Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy.
The Mandalorian Cast Announced
We’ve written a lot about The Mandalorian already this year, considering the show is still in active production and it tops our installments again with Lucasfilm announcing the full cast earlier in the week. Including everyone we already know:
- Pedro Pascal (Game of Thrones, Kingsman: the Golden Circle): “a long Mandalorian gunfighter in the outer reaches of the galaxy.”
- Werner Herzog (Rick and Morty, Parks and Rec)
- Gina Carano (Deadpool, Fast & Furious 6)
- Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul)
- Emily Swallow (Supernatural, Castlevania)
- Carl Weathers (Predator, Colony)
- Omid Abtani (American Gods, Mockingjay)
- Nick Nolte (Gracepoint, Warrior)
The show is being produced and written by Jon Favreau (Iron Man), who had this to say about the cast:
We’re having a great time working with this incredibly talented group and excited for everyone to see what we’re up to.
No more details have been released about the characters of the plot of The Mandalorian, but when you take a closer look at the credits of these actors (including some of the ones we chose to highlight in this article), you will notice they each bring a certain amount of geek credit to the show. It’s a very smart move on behalf of the casting directors to bring in genre actors and faces a more nerd-inclined fanbase is going to identify with an celebrate in order to ensure The Mandalorian gets the views it is going to need to justify what must be an incredible development budget that has already gone into developing the very first Star Wars live action television show – particularly if this is the show set to launch the Disney+ streaming service.
Aggretsuko Brings Holiday Rage
Streaming giant Netflix has announced that their first crossover with Japanese brand Samrio, Aggretsuko, which dropped its first season earlier this year to the delight of anime nerds worldwide, will be getting the holiday special treatment along with such Netflix staples as: The Great British Baking Show, Nailed It!, and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. They dropped this trailer earlier in the week:
Aggretsuko: We Wish You A Metal Christmas | Official Trailer [HD] | Netflix
While Retsuko desperately makes plans for Christmas Eve, her new obsession with seeking validation through social media spirals out of control.Watch Aggretsu…
Adi Shankar to Produce “Superman vs The KKK”
Deadline has announced Castlevania producer Adi Shankar will be tackling an adaptation of the iconic Superman vs the KKK storyline and that his version is heavily inspired by the current political climate – including comments made by pundits like Bill Maher who have been openly derisive of comic book fans.
Shankar told Deadline:
The comic-book/video game industry needs our Shakespeare in Love we need our Capote and Finding Neverland. The founders of nerd culture must be celebrated as much as the franchises they have given birth to. It’s our history. We also need to tell stories about how these myths have had a tangible impact on our material world. That’s where Superman vs KKK comes in.
It was announced last month Shankar would partner with Marc Rosen to adapt the original story by Rick Bowers. DC Comics is also doing their own contemporary adaptation penned by Gene Yang for their burgeoning children’s literature imprint. To have dueling modernizations of this particular storyline in our modern day given some of the present socio-political atmosphere is certain to garner DC Comics a lot of attention and put the creators in the hot seat.
Shankar seems to understand the power of moral messages in fandom:
Fandom was built on a blueprint of mortality and the stories of people grappling with godlike power are more relevant now in the age of limitless technology than before.” he stated.
Superheroes operate outside the scope of law and offer us hope that someone will rise up and protect us when government and other institutions cannot or will not. This story shows the power of the superhero mythology and it’s tangible impact on the physical world.
