This year’s virtual Comic-Con@Home has announced its schedule for Saturday, July 25. The highlights are below.

The virtual event replaces the annual San Diego Comic-Con, the largest fan convention in North America, which was to be held July 22–26 at the San Diego Convention Center, until the COVID-19 pandemic forced its cancellation.

In June, Comic-Con International — the non-profit organization that oversees SDCC and its sister event, WonderCon in Anaheim, Calif. — announced it was moving forward with the virtual event on the same dates. This time, however, the event is free and open to all. (via Variety)

Saturday’s events include (all times are Pacific Daylight):

10–11 a.m.

“Cosmos: Possible Worlds” — featuring the host and creators of the Fox docu-series, including host Neil deGrasse Tyson, visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, executive producer and director Ann Druyan, writer and director Brannon Braga, and executive producer Jason Clark.

11 a.m.–12 p.m.

“The Simpsons” — featuring the executive producers of the Fox animated series, including Al Jean, Matt Selman, David Silverman, Carolyn Omine, and Mike B. Anderson, and moderated by actor Yeardley Smith.

The Art of Adapting Comics to the Screen: David S. Goyer Q&A. The writer behind such iconic comic book film and TV adaptations including Blade, Batman Begins, Constantine (TV), and Man of Steel, David S. Goyer will reveal all his secrets to success and discuss his long history of work in comics.

12–1 p.m.

“Bless the Harts” — featuring the cast and executive producers of the Fox animated series, including Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ike Barinholtz, Jillian Bell, Fortune Feimster, and executive producers Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Andy Bobrow.

“Phineas and Ferb The Movie: Candace Against the Universe” — featuring the cast and creators of the Disney Plus animated feature, including Ashley Tisdale, Vincent Martella, Maulik Pancholy, Dee Bradley Baker, creators and executive producers Dan Povenmire and Jeff “Swampy” Marsh, and director Bob Bowen.

Constantine: 15th Anniversary Reunion Watch When Available! Keanu Reeves, director Francis Lawrence, and producer Akiva Goldsman reunite to reflect on the making of the 2005 DC Comics adaptation. Moderated by Collider’s editor-in-chief Steven Weintraub.

1–2 p.m.

“American Dad!” — featuring the cast and executive producers of the Fox animated series, including Rachael MacFarlane, Wendy Schaal, Scott Grimes, Dee Bradley Baker, supervising director Brent Woods, and executive producers Nic Wegener and Joe Chandler.

“Guillermo del Toro and Scott Cooper on Antlers and Filmmaking” — featuring award-winning directors del Toro and Cooper in conversation.

“Picard 2020: A Literary Retrospective” — featuring “Star Trek” authors Una McCormack, David Mack, Stephen Graham Jones and Alex White discussing how Captain Picard changed both on-screen and on the page over the years.

“The Right Stuff” — featuring the cast and creators of the Disney Plus/National Geographic series, including Patrick J. Adams, Jake McDorman, Colin O’Donoghue, Michael Trotter, Aaron Staton, Micah Stock, James Lafferty, Nora Zehetner, Shannon Lucio, Eloise Mumford, Eric Ladin, Patrick Fischler, showrunner and executive producer Mark Lafferty, and executive producer Jennifer Davisson.

2–3 p.m.

“Family Guy” — featuring the cast and executive producers of the Fox animated series, including Seth MacFarlane, Alex Borstein, Mila Kunis, Seth Green, and executive producers Rich Appel, Alec Sulkin, and Kara Vallow.

“For All Mankind” — featuring the cast and creators of the Apple TV Plus drama series, including Joel Kinnaman, Michael Dorman, Sarah Jones, Shantel VanSanten, Jodi Balfour, Wrenn Schmidt, Sonya Walger, Krys Marshall, and executive producers Ronald D. Moore, Matt Wolpert, and Ben Nedivi.

3-4 p.m.

“The Order” — featuring the cast and creators of the Netflix horror series, including Jake Manley, Adam DiMarco, Devery Jacobs, Thomas Elms, Louriza Tronco, Katharine Isabelle, showrunner Dennis Heaton, and executive producers Shelley Eriksen, Mike Frislev, and Chad Oakes.

“Bill & Ted Face the Music” — featuring cast members Keanu Reeves, Alex Winter, Samara Weaving, Brigette Lundy-Paine, William Sadler, director Dean Parisot and writers Ed Solomon and Chris Matheson.

4–5 p.m.

“Stumptown” — featuring the cast and creators of the ABC drama series, including Cobie Smulders, Jake Johnson, Michael Ealy, executive producers Jason Richman, David Bernad, and Ruben Fleischer, and author of the original graphic novel, Greg Rucka.

5-6 p.m.

“What We Do In The Shadows” — featuring Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Kayvan Novak, Mark Proksch, Harvey Guillén and moderator Haley Joel Osment.

Varietyreports that DC Comics and streaming service DC Universe have been impacted by parent company WarnerMedia’s corporate realignment, with layoffs at both units. But a source indicates that through WarnerMedia’s streamlining efforts, the DC brand will actually be expanding, with DC chief creative officer Jim Lee overseeing creative of all DC-related growth in the company.

At DC Comics, editor-in-chief Bob Harras, editors Brian Cunningham and Mark Doyle, senior VP of publishing strategy and support services Hank Kanalz, VP of marketing Jonah Weiland, and VP of global publishing initiatives and digital strategy Bobbie Chase have all exited as part of the restructuring.

DC Universe employees have also been significantly impacted by the personnel reduction.

A DC spokesperson declined to comment on the layoffs.

At Comic-Con@Home, ViacomCBS finally revealed the name of their CG-animated Star Trek series headed to Nickelodeon, and on Monday they announced some new high-powered talent joining the Star Trek: Prodigy team.

Nickelodeon and CBS Television Studios announced that award-winning director and producer Ben Hibon (Codehunters) will direct, co-executive produce and serve as the creative lead of Nickelodeon’s new animated series Star Trek: Prodigy. The CG-animated series follows a group of lawless teens who discover a derelict Starfleet ship and use it to search for adventure, meaning, and salvation.

Star Trek: Prodigy will debut exclusively on Nickelodeon in 2021, targetting “a new generation of fans.” (via TrekMovie)

Adria Arjona has been cast in the upcoming Cassian Andor series at Disney+, Variety has confirmed.

Arjona joins previously announced series lead Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk, both of whom will reprise their roles from the Star Wars film Rogue One. Genevieve O’Reilly and Denise Gough are also set to appear in the show, as will Stellan Skarsgard and Kyle Soller. Details on Arjona’s role in the series are being kept under wraps.

Reps for Disney did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The show focuses on Rebel agent Andor prior to the events of Rogue One in the early days of the Rebellion against the Empire. The show had been described as a “spy thriller” when plans for it were first revealed.

SpongeBob‘s partner in crime is getting his own show. Deadline reports that Nickelodeon is finalizing deals for The Patrick Star Show, a SpongeBob SquarePants animated spinoff centered on SpongeBob’s best friend Patrick Star, voiced by Bill Fagerbakke.

Voiceover recordings already reportedly have started for the project, which is expected to receive a 13-episode order and comes from the creative team behind the mothership series.

According to sources, The Patrick Star Show is in the vein of The Larry Sanders Show and Comedy Bang! Bang!, with Patrick (Fagerbakke) hosting his own late-night talk show. The series would revolve around Patrick and his family. Fagerbakke is being joined by a largely new cast voicing new characters, with SpongeBob cast members expected to make occasional appearances, reprising their roles.

A rep for Nickelodeon declined comment.

Now that we're less than two weeks away from DC FanDome (WarnerMedia's big, 24-hour promotion fest for all things Warner Bros., DC Comics, etc., on August 22), we can't keep our dumpster fires of speculation from crackling over this feeling that we might be getting an answer sooner rather than later as to the fate of potential Arrowverse series Green Arrow and the Canaries.

If there was any news to report, pilot executive producer Marc Guggenheim would definitely be someone in-the-know. But unless he's whipped out his "social media poker face," it doesn't look like the project's status has changed. On Sunday, Guggenheim was asked on Twitter for an update on the pilot and if there was a timeframe for an announcement.

"Unfortunately, I don’t know when an announcement will be made," the EP tweeted. "I thought it would be “soon” but that was, unfortunately, a very non-soon time ago. At the end of the day, the timing is in the hands of Warner Bros. and The CW." (via Bleeding Cool)

The Canary watch continues.

Valiant's flagship hero returns this November in X-O MANOWAR #2!

Aric of Dacia, aka X-O MANOWAR, is back and heading in a bold new direction with Harvey Award-winner DENNIS “HOPELESS” HALLUM (Star Wars: Darth Vader - Dark Visions) and astonishing artist EMILIO LAISO (Marvel’s Spider-Man: Velocity). The first issue earned a spot in the top 100 best-selling comics when it debuted. Now, the action-packed second issue is set to arrive in comic shops on November 25th, 2020, with covers by Eisner Award-winning artist CHRISTIAN WARD (Invisible Kingdom), NETHO DIAZ (G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero), and a 1:25 variant by DANIEL WARREN JOHNSON (Wonder Woman: Dead Earth).






"X-O Manowar has always been a nuclear missile with the mind of a noble warrior," remarked Dennis. "He's unstoppable in combat. Need to defeat an alien warlord? Repel an intergalactic invasion or end a war? Aric's your guy. But this time, X-O Manowar is acting locally. What happens when a nuclear missile moves in down the street? How does a superweapon playing superhero save the neighborhood? How does he change the world?"


Check out the first four pages of X-O MANOWAR #2, below.

Netflix has released a trailer for Away, the upcoming space drama starring Hilary Swank.

Away is solicited as "a thrilling, emotional drama on an epic scale that celebrates the incredible advancements humans can achieve and the personal sacrifices they must make along the way. As American astronaut Emma Green (Hilary Swank) prepares to lead an international crew on the first mission to Mars, she must reconcile her decision to leave behind her husband (Josh Charles) and teenage daughter (Talitha Bateman) when they need her the most. As the crew's journey into space intensifies, their personal dynamics and the effects of being away from their loved ones back on Earth become increasingly complex."

Netflix's Away will premiere on September 4th.

Trailer: https://youtu.be/3f_REapPwio

Talk about a role reversal. Shawn Ashmore, who did very cool things with ice as one of filmdom’s X-Men, will seriously heat things up during Season 2 of Amazon Prime’s The Boys.

Ashmore, whose previous TV credits include The Following and The Rookie, will appear during the darkly comic superhero series’ sophomore run as Lamplighter, a former superstar member of the Seven before he left under mysterious circumstances, to be replaced by Starlight. What’s more, Lamplighter ties in directly to the Boys’ tragic history — he’s actually the reason they broke up eight years ago — so when the pyrokinetic enters their lives again, he dredges up painful memories, pokes at their raw nerves, and changes everything. (via TV Line)

Season 2 of The Boys will premiere Friday, Sept. 4 with the first three episodes, followed by a weekly rollout that will culminate in an epic season finale on Oct. 9. Season 3 is already a go, ordered last month.

The first two seasons of The Umbrella Academy may have had some major differences — especially in the family dynamic realm. Since the siblings grew closer in the previous season, the follow-up was able to explore their interpersonal relationships a bit more heavily. Yet, in the narrative department, the two were rather synonymous.

Season 2 of The Umbrella Academy ends with the Hargreeves back in 2019, but their father is alive once more, and he has assembled a new team of elite heroes — The Sparrow Academy. Ben is one of the primary members. It’s likely that upon meeting his original choices back in the ‘60s, Reginald chose to go in a different direction with his academy of kids. (via Cheat Sheet)

Season 3 of The Umbrella Academy (once confirmed) will likely see the Hargreeves children dealing with an altered past — different than their memory, and lacking their childhood home. Rather than confronting an apocalypse, the team will confront a new academy, with a leader they know and love (Ben) who has no clue who they are. One has to wonder if the two teams will mash-up to defeat the baddies together, or clash when it comes to how one should save the world.

After taking its time figuring out where it wants the next Tron installment to go, Disney’s sci-fi franchise looks to have new life as Deadline reports that Garth Davis has been tapped to direct the film starring Jared Leto.

Davis has been better known for his smaller art house films over the years like 2018’s Mary Magdalene and his critically acclaimed 2016 drama Lion, which received six Oscar nominations including for Best Picture. Tron would mark Davis’ first tentpole, and though he is not known for big-budget projects, insiders say Davis aggressively pursued the job, eventually winning over execs.

The original 1982 film starring Jeff Bridges was set inside the computer program called the Grid, where a computer hacker is abducted and forced to participate in gladiatorial games. The film wasn’t a hit and received mixed reviews, even though its special effects were seen as game-changing at the time. The cult following that swelled around the film in years to come as it played on cable only helped grow its popularity, to the point where Disney decided to move forward with a sequel, Tron: Legacy, in 2010, with Bridges reprising his role and Garret Hedlund and Olivia Wilde joining the franchise.

That film did go on to have box office success, bringing in $400 million globally, but even so plans for a sequel were pushed while Disney figured out how to move the story forward. The studio eventually scrapped plans for a direct sequel to Tron: Legacy, and even after Leto attached himself in 2017 and has been taking their time in figuring out next steps for this project.