To me my casting rumors | Chapter 286

[00:00:00] Warning, this chapter of Distance Nerding was recorded live, which means there may be strong language, unsuitable for children, and unusual humor, which may be unsuitable for everyone who claims to be human. Parental discretion is advised. Distance NERDing What's up, ladies and gentlemen? What do you do? What do you do?

[00:00:27] It's better late than never, but we're here. Ladies and gentlemen, let's get this going. It is time. It is time, ladies and gentlemen. It is another amazing Tuesday. You are now experiencing Distance Nerding. Nerding at a distance. Of course, ladies and gentlemen, I'm your boy, Young Phil. That handsome gent right there, that is the Jamaz5000. And we're here. And we're here to nerd together. Yep. On time. Perfectly. Exactly. It happens.

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[00:02:31] Here we go. All right. Well, ladies and gentlemen, let's jump right into this. Jamez, tell everybody what they're in store. The X-Men casting rumors are mutating. We have gods and devils on the rumors. Booster may still have some maybes, may still be golden. And the King of Pops is set to pop back into the box office. I know you didn't see it because you were reading it. But, Jamez, go back to the main screen real quick here.

[00:03:01] Yes. Look what was on the screen. Look at that. That's scary. Oh. Dafne Keen Thor. Booster Gold. Somebody is having fun with the effects. That's good. Absolutely. All right. So, let's jump right into the first sponsor here, Jamez. Tell everybody who's bringing us the show today. Check out Colossus Girl Entertainment fan-focused Comic-Cons across the West Coast, including

[00:03:28] Beaver State Comic-Con, Metal Art Comic-Con, Anna Medford, Tri-Cities Powerhouse, which is this coming weekend, Silver Age Comic-Con, and Gem State Comic-Con. Comics, cosplay vendors, artists, celebrity guests, and so much more. Visit ColossusGirlENT.com. Playing your next Comic-Con. Exactly. So, with that being said, and also this weekend, just throwing the shout-out, we were just talking about Colossus Girl. They're doing their show, but Versicon is this weekend as well, and I know a lot of people

[00:03:58] we know will be in attendance at that show. They were talking about it in the chat earlier. So, I just want to throw that shout-out there. Shout-out to Brent, just because Brent always shouting us out, so let's shout him out. So, here we go. Let's get right into this, guys. It is time to jump into the first block of news. That's Marvel, because, guys, we got to talk with J. Jonah Jameson. It's straight from J. Jonah. Let's get into all this Marvel news, because we've got a lot to talk about today. Insert music here. Okay.

[00:04:27] Looks like Ghostwriter has a co-pilot. After revealing Ryan Gosling will bring the spirit of vengeance to Marvel Cinematic Universe, this studio appears to be filling out the cast with another high-profile name. According to insider Jeff Schneider, Rosamund Pike is being considered for the female lead opposite Gosling in Ghostwriter. Nice. I like this. This actually makes me happy.

[00:04:56] While Marvel Studios hasn't confirmed the casting, Pike would be a fantastic addition to the project. Pike has been in projects like Die Another Day, that James Bond movie, Wheel of Time. There you go. She was big in that. Saltburn, and then Academy Award-nominated performance in Gone Girl, and a bunch more. Schneider Report specifically describes Pike as Johnny Blaze's love interest,

[00:05:24] making Roxanne Simpson the most likely role of the casting. Interesting. So we haven't gotten confirmation that he's going to be the Johnny Blaze version, you know, Ryan Gosling. But if he is, she's going to be Roxanne Simpson. I mean, he has said that. He wants to be, or he wants it to be the Johnny Blaze, but Marvel hasn't said anything yet. True. Rosamund Pike's great.

[00:05:50] I think that she picked, but with her acting ability, I think she would be really good. I think that's a good pick. I like it a lot. So, Ghost Rider burns into theaters in 2028. Ready for it. Let's do this. All right. We're revving up the Ghost Rider rumors. Sasha Baron Cohen's Mephisto is rumored to be headed for Ghost Rider,

[00:06:14] where the character could finally step out of the shadows and become the supernatural MCU threat that he's always been meant to be. The report comes from Alex Perez of Cosmic Circus, of course, who was asked what he's heard about Marvel's upcoming Ghost Rider project starring Ryan Gosling as Johnny Blaze. I think it's going to be Johnny Blaze. Yeah. I really think, too, it makes a lot of sense with Mephisto. Mephisto is the first villain.

[00:06:43] I mean, you know, Ghost Rider is intrinsically tied to Ghost Rider, but I think it just makes sense, especially if you're rebooting the new Johnny Blaze. Yep. All right. So, Alex Perez said two pieces of information.

[00:06:58] Expect Sasha Baron Cohen as Mephisto and that Ghost Rider will already be established by the time we get to the Ghost Rider movie, meaning like we'll already be introduced to Ghost Riders up and running. Kind of like Spider-Man, kind of like Fantastic Four. It's not an origin story. We're just diving into it and he's already part of the universe. Which, I mean, it's kind of what we want at this point. Yeah, that's, yeah, definitely.

[00:07:27] I love the way that Spider-Man and Fantastic Four, we just dove in and just like, okay, we're here for the ride. We didn't need the exact origin story. We don't need them or we don't need Peter getting bit by a spider again. It just happened. And we ran with Spider-Man for, you know, four plus movies and we don't care about his origin story. Uncle Ben? Who's Uncle Ben? We don't need him. We're good. Don't need Uncle Ben.

[00:07:58] Not going to be as good looking as Aunt May, you know what I'm saying? All right. Yeah, so what did we say? Ghost Rider in theaters in 2028. What do you think? Are you excited for Mephisto? Are you excited for Sacha Baron Cohen to come back as Mephisto? I think Sacha Baron Cohen did such a good job in Ironheart as Mephisto. I think that he's an underrated dramatic actor. Everybody knows him for his comedies.

[00:08:28] Everybody knows him for any stuff that he does. But like, what he really gives him a raise for the amount of people to do. And I think that he did a, I think he will absolutely kill it. Yeah, I like it. I actually, I know we don't talk about him much, but Ironheart, I thought he was really good in Ironheart. Right. Same, same. I 100% agree. I agree. All right. Let's keep it going. Move over, Thor. Hercules is here.

[00:08:55] A new rumor claims the next standalone Chris Hemsworth God of Thunder Thor movie might not be actually a Thor movie. Instead, the project could reportedly evolve into a movie centered around Hercules. Interesting. It's an interesting idea, especially after the way Hercules was introduced in the post credit scene of Thor Love and Thunder. The latest claim comes from social media scooper James Mack.

[00:09:24] There's a lot of, there's a lot of scoopers news going on right now. So, uh, scooper news from James Mack, who says Marvel Studios is exploring a new version of the project that shifts spotlight away from Thor and puts Hercules front and center. According to the report, Hemsworth would still have a significant presence, presence in the film, but Hercules would become the primary protagonist.

[00:09:50] So at the moment, previous reports have suggested that Thor 5 wouldn't arrive until 2028 or 2029. That timeline lines up with Marvel Studios' current slate. There's a poll. Who would you rather have, Thor or Hercules? That's, that's interesting. So, so actually, okay, so let me close the other poll that we have right now. Uh, cause I was seeing if I had to see Mephisto. But, basically, do you want Roy Kent? Do you want more Roy Kent? Right, exactly.

[00:10:20] Do you want Roy Kent with his nipples out? Is that... He's here, he's there, he's every fucking way. It's Roy Kent. Which we're gonna get more Roy Kent! Yeah. Trailer? Of? Um, Ted Lasso season, season four? Oh, yeah. I, I sure did. But did you see the first episode? Cause it's already out. I did not know it was already out, so now I gotta go watch the episode. You're welcome. Things are getting busy.

[00:10:49] Probably need to go watch that tonight after the show, so that's gonna be awesome. Yeah, I, I wouldn't mind telling more, you know, God, Pantheon stuff. It'd be nice to see how they weave it all together. You know, the gods of like different, I don't know, religions or different, you know, beliefs and that sort of thing. They kind of started to do it in the last, you know, Thor, which was fun. So it'd be nice to see what else they, they come up with.

[00:11:17] Yeah, no, it, and Hercules was a fun teaser at the end. I decided to kind of see more how they flesh out that character. Comics, he's, he is a fun character in the comics. It's fun to see what Marvel have a long-term story. And, you know, think about it this way. We have like a pocket of the MCU that's like ground-based stuff. Another pocket that's magic. Another pocket that's like cosmic. We're talking about, you know, supernatural stuff with Midnight Suns.

[00:11:45] What if we have this weird god pantheon type corner of the universe that's Hercules and Thor and everybody else that's, that's just kind of bigger than life kind of thing. Be kind of fun. And just kind of seeing like what that relationship ends up having some animosity. If there's fighting that happens between the two of them. What is a fight between Thor and Hercules? Exactly. Give me that. Yeah. Give me that. All right. Moving on.

[00:12:13] Marvel has officially finished filming Daredevil Born Again Season 3. That's a good thing, right? Right? Yeah. Maybe. Instead of, it sparked waves of concern across Marvel community. With many wondering if this could end up being the final season of Daredevil, but also the final show of Marvel's television universe, I guess. Which was interesting.

[00:12:42] I didn't even think about it. But really what they're saying is like, hey, so Wonder Man is canceled. We know we're getting Daredevil, but are we, are we, and there's also WandaVision, or not WandaVision, but Vision Quest. Yeah. That's coming out this year. Is there anything else coming down the pipe for the MCU as far as Disney Plus goes? I don't think so, man. And we talked about this on Thursday. Like this may be about doing TV shows in general. That's crazy to me that they would do this.

[00:13:11] I don't think, so we're talking about the MCU, right? We're not talking about X-Men 97 or Marvel Zombies. I think those projects are cheap enough or under budget enough and has enough fanfare where they'll still make those. But I'm talking about stuff that's MCU related. Like there's nothing coming down the pipe. I didn't even realize that that's so crazy to me.

[00:13:39] So Marvel Studios hasn't announced what's next for Disney Plus live action, Beyond Daredevil, and Vision Quest. And of course, Wonder Man was on there, but it got canceled. Will we find out more at D23? Which is interesting, which is like coming up very soon. I think we will. I think we'll get some at D23. I think we're going to get the full X-Men cast reveal. I think the confirmations.

[00:14:06] I think a lot of things are going to because Disney doesn't see any profit in making TV. Oh, so sad to me. That bums me out so, so, so much. Yeah, I don't know if we're going to get any more. But then stuff that was given chances, like Ms. Marvel, we're not going to get stuff like that anymore. Or like, are we going to get another WandaVision type or Loki type show? Right. We'll get it in the near future.

[00:14:36] It doesn't really seem like they're going to be out just because they want. I'm not very happy about this because I feel like, you know, doing a TV show allows them to. It doesn't need to be a episode. See, fine with these 13 episode seasons. But then they're also a lot of these seasons. They've been like, oh, here's a six episode. And it's like, give me something that allows the story to bring the sweet spot is like 10. Yeah, I would say eight to 12 is pretty good.

[00:15:03] So right around 10, like think about Reacher, you know, Reacher is usually eight ish episodes. I think House of Dragon was eight episodes. I mean, there's a lot of storytelling you can do in that amount of time versus a hour and a half, half movie. So yeah, it's just kind of crazy to me. Like it would bum me out for me to lose stuff like Ms. Marvel or Loki, you know, stuff like Moon Knight,

[00:15:28] you know, stuff that you wouldn't normally get a shot for big screen. You know, that being greenlit for like a big screen movie. Probably not. I feel like the shows allow for better storytelling. They tell like, you know, long form stories and then doing a, they aren't looking at a, well, not making money. I think a lot of it is also just the strategy behind the way is they want money.

[00:15:55] Now there's a little bit of like meddling some of the stuff in the background. And it's like, as the, the best thing to do is to let as attempt as it might alienate some, some people who are like, I don't watch the TV shows. I only, so then have these situations. I think Mandalorian and Grogu. That's, that's true. Well, I think part of it is, is this course correction that we're seeing with, with Doomsday and kind of,

[00:16:19] we don't really need to connect with all the, you know, shows that were on Disney plus. I think Disney is losing value in that for the, for the bigger storyteller. It's weird how the audience is starting to separate and it's right there at Disney plus. Like, I think there's a lot of people that are watching the shows, whether they like them or don't like them. Let's not talk about that part, but they're there and they're connected.

[00:16:46] But then there's the, the, I guess the majority of moviegoers that do not watch Disney plus. And I think that's, what's keying them in to be like, all right, this is, this is the issue. We're going to make money on, on movies, but the issue is people aren't connecting with it because they're not watching Disney plus. So we'll, we'll see what happens. I don't know. It's crazy. All right. Next. Next to me, my casting rumors. This is good.

[00:17:16] There's a, there's a lot of rumors. So let me get through all this. Daphne Keen is reportedly in talks to reprise her role as X 23 in Marvel's upcoming X-Men reboot. If the report pants out, Keen would make the jump from an old FOSS universe into Marvel Studios, new generation of mutants. Before we get too far into it. And she's only 21 years old. That's crazy.

[00:17:40] I feel like she's been around forever, but Keen's only 21 years old, which fits into the younger age demographic. That is the cast that we're going to put together here in a second. So, um, in the last week or so they announced, not announced, not announced, announced, but we'll see. Uh, Emma Frost is reportedly being played by Samara Weaving. Who's 34 years old.

[00:18:07] Uh, from Ready or Not, IFC's Over Your Dead Body and Romantic Thrillers, Carolina Caroline. All right. Okay. That works out. That works out. Um, before we go on to the rest, I guess we can also add Sadie Sink into that mix as being part of the X-Men universe. Have you? Yes. I wouldn't stop. Oh, the whole deal with that then?

[00:18:34] I think by next week we can start, you can start talking about things. But, uh, yeah. So we have, uh, who's that? Daphne King, uh, or Daphne Keen. Samara Weaving. And then the next one is Kit Connor, age 22, from Netflix's Heartstoppers, A24's Warfare, and the upcoming Elden Rings film as Cyclops. Have you seen him? Have you got pictures of him?

[00:19:03] I've seen pictures of him. Uh, I feel like he doesn't fit Scott that much for me, but I mean, I, I also, I also know, like, I trust the, the casting because it's always, casting is always on point. Yeah. See, I think he fits like a young, like a young Scott. And the way I feel like I look at him and I compare him to say James Marsden. And I'm like, yeah, I could, I could see that. Like a, like a younger James Marsden. So I'm like, I'm okay.

[00:19:33] I can see that happening. All right. Next character. How about Professor X? So this one has a lot of names attached to it. But Christopher Abbott reportedly tested for the role and potentially emerged as the latest frontrunner for Professor X. Tony Award nominated actor whose recent credits include Craven, the Hunter, and the Wolfman. Right? Come on now. The Tony Award nominated actor who also's recent credit.

[00:20:03] Oh, I read that part. I know there was a few other people that were also up for, for Professor X. And then we also have Asa Germain, Germain, Sam from Gen V. Do you remember him? Yes. Yeah, I know exactly who that is. Schwarzenegger's younger brother. Yes. Yes. So that actor reportedly tested for Scott Summers.

[00:20:31] And before Marvel made a decision, I think they're offering him the angel role. I can see him as angel. Yeah. I think in the last month or so, they brought in a bunch of actors. And now they're just kind of shuffling them around to see who fits where. But I think they kind of have this like core group of, of actors are like, this is who we want to see in X-Men. Now we just got to put them in the right roles.

[00:21:01] So let's talk about Beast. So according to Scooper Daniel Rickman, Charles Melton, best known to a lot of fans for playing Reggie Mantle on Riverdale, has walked away from the Beast role after weeks of reports connecting him to the character. Rickman also claims that a full X-Men cast reveal will be coming at D23, which is this coming weekend.

[00:21:28] So we'll see if Charles Melton will be part of that. He's also saying that it might not happen anymore. And the only reason it wouldn't happen is because they have cast officially in play. If somebody walked away, then let's go to the next person that we had and have a contract signed before D20 casting announcement. Have everybody locked down. You know? That's a good point. For whatever reason. Right. Maybe it's just like, I committed to this other thing, so we just got to work that out.

[00:21:58] But he might not just be announced announced. But I think that's also key that Rickman said is that D23 is when we're going to jump off with all the X-Men stuff. So with all these casting rumors, is Marvel getting ready for a fully pull back the curtain on the X-Men reboot news? I think so. Again, there's a lot of potential for different people that they're looking at for all this. I've been seeing a lot of stuff for Storm. I've been seeing a lot of Rogue. I mean, we're not going to know anything.

[00:22:28] Yeah. I've heard a few Rogue casting rumors. I left off this because none of them seemed like official, official, like the way these ones felt like multiple outlets were reporting. So I just stayed with these. I think Kit Conner and Samara Weaving are the only ones. Yeah. I agree. They're definitely going younger. Definitely going younger. Definitely. All right. Let's keep it going.

[00:22:56] Does Marvel even know how to Disney Plus anymore? According to a new report, Champions and Stranger Academy or Strange Academy may no longer be headed to Disney Plus. Instead, Marvel is reportedly considering turning both into theatrical films. The report comes from insider, again, Daniel Rickman, who says that both projects originally developed as streaming series are now being evaluated as feature films.

[00:23:25] Marvel Studios hasn't confirmed the report, but it would certainly line up with the studio's current direction. So the studio's live action Disney Plus lineup has become surprisingly small heading into 2026. So it's Vision Quest and it's Daredevil and we're done. I mean, that's what it's seeming like. Again, I'm not a huge fan of this.

[00:23:49] The way that they're looking at Champions rather than it being probably going to do like an ensemble Young Avengers film. Again, I would prefer TV characters and whether that has a team. Strange Academy is kind of the same thing. More about. But as long as the adaptations that they out are telling the right story. You know what I mean? I agree. I agree. But I'm okay with movies. I totally am. But I just don't. I really like long form storytelling.

[00:24:19] I really love series. I think it would do better as a series, especially since a lot of these characters were from Disney Plus shows. So I don't know. I hope. I hope it stays that way. Okay. Next story. Marvel. Marvel. Why did you say that name? Marvel.

[00:24:43] Could Zack Snyder actually end up directing a Marvel Cinematic Universe film after spending years associated with DC and helping define its cinematic universe or its extended cinematic universe? The idea of Snyder stepping over to the MCU is something few fans wouldn't have predicted. According to Scooper, my time to shine. Hello.

[00:25:08] Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige may have interest in bringing Snyder into the MCU. So no details attached. No movie. No characters or timeline. Just the what if Marvel brought over Zack Snyder? What are your thoughts on that? I see it happening. I see it being something that Marvel is going to be like, yeah, you know, we got to capitalize on this. The Snyder. He brings his own built in, you know.

[00:25:37] So, I mean, like, you know, the Snyder bros are going to be up in arms about him doing a mall over that. So I'm not against it. I mean, you know, my whole thing is I think that photographer, like the dude, his cinematography skills are unmatched. As a director, he's okay. You know, I think that it is a big move. I also think that there is he just had a meeting.

[00:26:05] He posted a picture this morning at a meeting with interesting. And I know that James Gunn and Zack Snyder are from the different things that they and he has talked about wanting to bring Zack back. That Zack was at Warner Brothers. There's a chance that it could be an idea. I think you were it or it's. It's yeah, I could see. Honestly, I could see both happening. And Zack Snyder, he's kind of a free agent now. Like he's he used to have that.

[00:26:32] I forgot what the universe was called, but he had that whole project over at Netflix. They kind of won't won't went away. You know, it only ended up with two movies. It was supposed to be two movies and like Rebel Moon. Yeah, exactly. And like a couple series, but it just became two movies and that's it. So I could see him being a hot commodity for DC or for Marvel. Yeah. And like what you said, he's a name. He'll bring his own in his own audience.

[00:27:01] But also, I think he'll bring audience over from whatever like his DC stuff. We'll definitely go watch his Marvel stuff as well. This one's interesting because I put it. I put it in the chat and it's split. Yeah, it's it's interesting. So I honestly I I think Marvel could could do something that would kind of I don't know if it's like a slap in the face of James Gunn.

[00:27:29] But if they gave him something, if they gave Zack Snyder something cosmic, you know, like, oh, here, here do Nova, you know, do do the next Captain Marvel or something like that. And it's it's very cosmic oriented, which was kind of James Gunn's realm in the Marvel universe. Yeah. But you also want to just make sure that whatever you're giving don't want to you don't want to just be like, hey, you should make a Marvel movie. And it's kind of like him forcing down a Marvel movie.

[00:27:58] You know, I definitely would want to make something in Marvel. I want he feels is in his wheelhouse and fits fits him. Right. Because he has a very, very distinct, you know, kind of look to his films. Stylized? Yes. Stylized. Yeah. I just think everything that his name and Frank Miller's name were attached to. So, yeah. Right. And between him and Frank Miller, like a very similar style and look in the film.

[00:28:27] So it's kind of like you don't want to you don't want to throw him in like, oh, you're going to do the next Guardians of the Galaxy movie. And it's like that's not his style. It would just feel it would just feel really weird. He nothing. He needs something that is big in scale and has like an epic feel to it. Good point. Good point. Don't want to give him like a small ensemble. That's a that's a good point. But, you know, if you think about like, yes, it's grandioso with like Batman versus Superman.

[00:28:56] But also when you boil it down, it's he only really lets a few people talk, you know, like Batman versus Superman. It's like 10 people talking. That's it. So, yeah, I guess he just needs let him blow up a planet or a city or two and he'll be fine. He'll be fine. The chat. So the chat ideas. Mike is saying I I rather have him fuck up the fuck up the escape from New York. Reboot.

[00:29:22] I I think I would like Zack Snyder's take on Escape from New York. I think that would be a really fun take is him taking over. Say Wong saying yes to Snyder. Imagine Kevin bringing him in just like James Gunn. He wouldn't say Wong. And that's what I was saying before. The James Gunn and Zack Snyder are friends and they constantly praise each other on the work. So I don't see. And like I said this morning, I think you may have missed it this morning at Warner

[00:29:51] Brothers talking. I think James Gunn. He's been talking for a while about looking for a project for Zack to do. I think that they may he may if not Zack just being at Warner Brothers and then Gladiator appearing in Zack Snyder film. So that's kind of what I feel like if they did something that was like a cosmic film, have Gladiator be character in that film. I think he would do a really good job with a character like Gladiator. Basically, you're giving him another. Yeah, that's a good point. Good point. All right.

[00:30:16] Keep it going because it's Mormon time, but Mormon time may be up. Sony spent years trying to convince audiences that a Spider-Man adjacent universe without Spider-Man could work. Instead, it delivered one disappointment after another with Morbius, Madam Web and Craven the Hunter, leaving fans wondering if the experience had finally run its course during a conversation with Matt Baloney.

[00:30:46] Sony Pictures Entertainment Motion Picture Group CEO Tom Rothman hinted that the studio could be looking at a fresh start with new creative talent from a string of critical and commercial disappointments. Interesting. In an interview with Variety, Rothman addressed the future of Sony Spider-Man related movies and his comments make it seem like the studio has no immediate plans to continue building that universe.

[00:31:13] He said, ultimately, the audience wasn't satisfied enough with Sony Spider-Man spinoffs, whether that's a fair assessment or those movies. Who knows? That's how that's howling in the wind. The audience is the boss and they didn't respond. It's as simple as that. I think they're done with it. The thing is, is again, where they messed up with these movies is trying to do Spider-Man villains without Spider-Man.

[00:31:42] There are ways to do origin characters, but you're not doing it in a way that's in that we care about it. You're also not just you guys are just kind of like doing films for the sake of doing films rather than trying to make it good. I agree. And a lot of what I like, again, I think what these what these studios are not understanding is that we don't want movies with a character just because, oh, I know that character's

[00:32:11] name from a comic book. You know, what I want is that character that I fell in love with reading on the I want a film that does that character. And what you guys were doing was more like, oh, hey, let's pluck this character and make a movie with him. But we're going to completely change. I understand changing things so that they'll do that in a way where the character is done. Tony Stark is a perfect example of that. Almost everything in his backstory except for the of it. And it still worked.

[00:32:40] Yeah, I could see that. Yeah, that's a good point. I think one of the things that that did not help them in the beginning is that Venom did well, you know, because then it kind of said, look, we know what we're doing. We don't need you, Marvel. We'll we'll just run our own stories. And from there, they were like, OK, let's do all. Let's do Madam Web. Let's do Morbius. They were just like, it doesn't matter. We know what we're doing where they didn't know what they were doing. Right. Right. Right.

[00:33:09] And again, I I hate not that I hate, but I mean, I hated that they made so much money because, again, I keep talking about the studios getting the wrong lessons from from success. Right. Right. Oh, we were successful because the movie was rated R. No, you were successful because I had a good story. That's that's what it comes down to is comes down to whether the film itself has a good story.

[00:33:34] And if it does have a good story, does it connect with the audience as far as being true to the source material? But at the same time, telling a new story. Yeah. I mean, look at brand new day. And again, they're not going to look at the lesson right, but brand new day. The majority of that story, the other there are elements of that story that are from the comics, but it's essentially a brand new story, you know, and they did it so well.

[00:33:59] They did it in a way where where you're getting the best portrayal of Peter Parker, both Spider-Man and Peter in this film, get a relationship with him and Frank Castle that in the comics, they have this constant antagonistic friendly relationship. And you get that in this film. You know what I mean? Like this, this entirely new organization built from the ground up within the DOGC and

[00:34:28] it thriving as a villain organ to lead to larger things within universe because they've already set up so many anti-mutant factions and characters that are leading from this. Yep. You know what I mean? Like, I agree. Yeah. So, I mean, like, I feel like, again, there are ways to tell new stories with these characters

[00:34:52] that still feel like they're from the comic books and, and you, you're not getting just, Hey, we're going to take a character and we're going to put a character, you know, his name on it. Morbius, terrible. Craven was a fucking sacrilege. Madam Web was absolutely, absolutely terrible. It's just bad in its storytelling, you know, trying to do like, Oh, we're going to take a villain that basically looks like Spider-Man, but it's not Spider-Man.

[00:35:18] No guys like, and on top of that, you guys own the rights to the character. Put Spider-Man in the story. Yeah. It's so weird. I don't understand why they never attempted. It feels weird that they would end this, their pocket of the Marvel universe without trying to incorporate Spider-Man somehow. Though I do get that if you have Tom Holland in a movie, he's going to demand a lot of movie, a lot of money.

[00:35:45] But also Marvel is probably going to say, okay, if, if Spider-Man's in it, we get to say what's going to happen in this movie. And honestly, I don't think that's a bad thing. So I don't know. It's crazy to me that Sony does the worst Marvel pocket of the, you know, Marvel universe, but also the best versions of the Marvel universe, like with the Spider-Man Tom Holland movies

[00:36:13] and with across the Spider-Verse beyond the Spider, the Spider-Verse series. Like that is the pinnacle. That's the top of the MCU style movies, but also we get Madam Web and Morbius. And Se Wong saying like, which the Spider-Man universe will worst. I like that just because the different takes that you had on Andrew Garfield's version of

[00:36:40] Spider-Man on the character, it would make sense to tie them into that world, which I think they said was tied into that world. They just didn't show Andrew Garfield's Spider-Man in any of those, which you could have done. They just never pulled the trigger. And the whole post-credit scene with, with what's his name? Tom Hardy? Yeah. Yeah. But I mean like that, that they're also, they were also like really pushing that they, that I'm, I'm okay with that.

[00:37:08] Again, we got a little, I don't know. We'll see. Well, I think there's a lot of, a lot of changes happening, not just at Sony, but Marvel. And I think when Marvel, I don't want to say right the ship, but finds the path that they want to take, I think that's when Sony is going to make some decisions on what they're going to do with their pocket Spider-Man universe.

[00:37:36] Only successful Spider-Man franchises, except for beyond the Spider-Verse, except for the Spider-Verse movies, which are, and aside from the Spider-Verse movies, there is not one Spider-Man venture that Sony has been at least with, that Marvel wasn't involved in. Yeah. Yeah. The movies that Marvel was involved in, but out on their own because they don't have a Kevin Feige. They don't have anybody who are there. Yeah. That's the lesson that they should, uh, not that, Oh, we got to look at Kevin Feige do everything.

[00:38:05] No, if you're going to do something like that, have somebody who actually gives a shit about Spider-Man and the characters handles those characters with, with an home that if you're Yeah. And you know, I think as much as this says for say Tom Holland and Marvel and what they can do with Spider-Man, I think this says a lot about what, uh, who is it? Uh, Lord and Miller, what they do with the, into the Spider-Verse series.

[00:38:33] And it just shows that they know how to build a universe as well. They need to leave fucking Lord and Miller alone. Every time like we hear that, Oh yeah. Uh, Lord and Miller are not going to stop having creative differences. Let Lord and Miller cook because when you let Lord and Miller cook, they come up with good shit. Yep. They're not the problem. You're the problem. Exactly. Oh, we don't think that's going to make money. Yeah. You know what? It's going to make money because Lord and Miller's name is on it. Exactly. Let them cook. Those dudes know what they're doing.

[00:39:02] Let them cook. Okay. Moving on. This is my last Marvel story. All right. Too long. Didn't read. Also. What is a rune? I think when Marvel, when Robert Downey Jr. Walked onto the hall H stage for Marvel studios, San Diego comic-con panel, he was embracing Dr. Doom signature. Look with a striking green outfit.

[00:39:28] As it turns out, the jacket he was wearing wasn't just a stylish nod to Marvel's next villain. It may be hiding message that points directly to Avengers Doomsday. One sharp-eyed Marvel fan on Reddit took on the challenge of translating the mysterious runes stitched into Downey's jacket. The fan explained that he cracked the code by writing a phonetic cipher of English by cross-referencing

[00:39:58] the Dom Latveria coffee product and both elder Firthark and Anglo-Saxon runic alphabets. And he said, I've created a somewhat shoddy but still very accurate version of the Latverian rune alphabet. So maybe this is why the whole Latverian coffee thing was a thing. I don't even remember where it was.

[00:40:23] People on Reddit have absolutely no lies. Because they... They do this for us. That's fine. It's fine. Thank you. So putting the messages together, the messages read, I think it was like on his sleeves, on his lapel, on his coat. So putting that all together, it read, Revenge, Justice, There is No Promise of Tomorrow. To the victor, go the spoils. Yeah? Okay.

[00:40:53] Victor Von Doom, go the spoils. Yes, there it is. All right, we'll find out exactly what Victor Von Doom has planned when Avengers Doomsday hits theaters on December 18th. That's... I mean, it is interesting to see the time to translate the runic alphabet of that film. Yeah. To figure out what that jacket is. But it also talks... It essentially is some motivation to victory. Yeah.

[00:41:22] I don't know if they needed a whole coffee pop-up thing for this, but it's... It reminds me very much of like Saturday morning cereal boxes with codes you got to do on the back of the cereal box and put it together. We just got a Marvel version of that. Okay. That's great. That's fine. Our cereal box was... Latveria? I don't know. Anyways. All right. Well, ladies and gentlemen, that is Marvel News.

[00:41:50] Very briefly, we will get a side of the world. Certain music here. So you're saying there's a chance. While David Jenkins' take on Booster Gold isn't happening, DC Studios is pressing ahead with Booster Gold under a new creative team, painting Heroes another live-action debut. According to The Wrap, DC Studios hasn't abandoned the series. Instead, it's moving ahead with a fresh creative direction and no actor has been cast as Booster Gold at this point. Damn!

[00:42:19] I was hoping Kameo Nanjiani was going to still play. I understand, you know, a lot of people on the internet are... Oh my God, you know who could play Booster Gold? Talking about blonde white guys? Who? Alan Richson. Oh yeah. He's too big. Come on. That's a lot of wasted muscle. He actually would be way too big for Booster Gold. Booster Gold needs to be like a smart... Yeah, Jenkins announced his Booster Gold project cancellation just the day after Marvel Studios show Wonder Man, despite the series' previous second season renewal.

[00:42:48] Jenkins also reacted to that news on threads, writing, I've lost the thread. Don't understand the objective of the streamer anymore. What does DC have in store for Booster Gold now? Only tell. What do you think, man? What do you think of a potential, essentially still getting Booster Gold? I'm still down. I'm happy that we potentially still have a Booster Gold.

[00:43:12] I think what may have happened is DC may have revisited the script or the direction of Booster Gold, you know, whether it was Kamail Nanjiani or not. And they said, I think it needs to get reworked. So, showing that the project is not dead and they may still be casting out there. Maybe they didn't like the direction where it was going right now. Or maybe it didn't feel as strong as initially thought.

[00:43:42] And then coming off Supergirl, you know, and that expectation and that felt. I think they may be revisiting how they approach Booster Gold. Like, if you were going to say, hey, go fan cast Booster Gold right now, I would say give me a Chris Pratt type character, you know, to play Booster Gold. Maybe Kamail Nanjiani is Skeets. But give me a Chris Pratt or give me somebody like Glenn Powell and throw him in the Booster Gold outfit.

[00:44:12] Glenn Powell, see, Glenn Powell actually, he does action comedy well. Yeah. So, I think that he might be able to pull off a Booster Gold. The thing is, is that, oh, he still, Glenn Powell still kind of gives off Action Star and I need Goofy. But he'd be super goofy. Have you seen, what is that show? I think it's on Hulu, Chad Powers. That's right. He is super goofy. He can be goofy. You're right.

[00:44:41] And he's willing to take on weird, weird roles. Like, even, he was in the Mario movie, right? He was like Star Fox or whatever. Yeah, he was. And he did. He's good at playing, like, supporting characters as well. So, somebody like Booster Gold, like, give me that. Yeah. Glenn Powell is Booster Gold, my dad. What up, Sandra? What up, Sandra? How's it going? All right. Well, that is it for our DC section of the news here.

[00:45:10] So, ladies and gentlemen, our next sponsor. All right. The show is brought to you by Debbie. All right. Debbie is a brand of inner focus, concentration, reaction time with no jitters or crash. Debbie contains no meltodextrin, no sugars, no fillers, no artificial colors or dyes. Find out more about Debbie at www.dubbie.gg. Use the code NERDING10 and get 10% off your order. All the deliciousness, guys. Make sure you get to that. So, let's next subject that we have here, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:45:40] Time for one shots. James, the quick news tonight. For more news, trailers, reactions, check out the Distance Nerding post on Facebook. Let us know what you're nerding out on. Check out the Distance Nerdington post. Hey, come on, man. It's my life. Okay. Okay. Come on. Come on. There's a sequel.

[00:46:11] The King of Pop story isn't finished on the big screen and Lionsgate already has cameras in sights for the next chapter. Following the massive success of Michael, the studio is moving forward with a planned sequel and it's hoping to begin production toward the end of 2026 or early 2027. Michael became a thriller at the box office, earning over $1 billion worldwide.

[00:46:40] I still haven't seen it, but I know a lot of people went out for this movie. Yeah. A lot of people complained about them not talking about the controversies and that they kind of focused a lot on some of his career stuff, but they didn't get into it. I'm okay with that. If they ended it in the 1987 bad tour, trying to get into the controversy. It could be a much, much more dramatic film talking about that up until his death.

[00:47:10] Honestly, I haven't seen the movie yet, but I'm okay with him staying away from the controversy. It was almost like just a celebration of his music and his story up to that point. And I'm okay with that. I think a lot of us would be, but that was the big, but also the family happy that they didn't that stuff because the nephew who played home said specifically that- Yeah.

[00:47:36] I heard there was a lot that was left out, which is like, okay, there's going to be a Michael too. Let's see what happens. Let's see what happens. Let's see. The film closes the words with his story continues making the studio's intentions pretty clear. Even before the sequel received an official green light, the first movie brings Jackson's story up through 1987, the bad tour, leaving decades of his complicated life and career available for the sequel.

[00:48:05] With filming starting into this year, early 2027, Michael part two could moonwalk into theaters between late 2027 and the first half of 2028. Come on. Come on. Come on. Easy. I got a hernia right there. Watch out. Who's bad? I should like put all that on the soundboard. When did that come out? When is it streaming?

[00:48:35] I think it's already streaming, man. When is Michael streaming? Oh, today. Yesterday. Oh, it just came out. Well, what's it on? This is the thing. It's on stars. Okay. So let us continue. All right. You know, I think I do have stars. You have cable. So you can, you can do. I don't have cable anymore. Thank you very much. It is 2026. I do not have cable. I do not have cable.

[00:49:04] And that's not how cable works. I can't just pull up Michael Jackson's movie on cable. If you have cable. If you have cable, then you have a way to get into the app where you can pull it up on to me. Yes. If I have cable, that means my back is probably hurting too. I should, and I should go see a doctor. That means you need to go. You need, you actually, if you still have cable in 2020, guys, you got to go get your prostate checked. Check your prostate. No, wait. All right. Nevermind. Okay. Sorry. Next story. Meet George Jetson.

[00:49:34] Do do do do do do do do do do do do. His boy Elroy. Do do do do do do do do do do do do. All right. Warner Brothers has confirmed a live action. The Jetsons movie is in development with Jim Carrey attached to star. It's a pretty wild combination of actor and property, but it actually kind of makes sense. The original animated sitcom debuted in 1962 and imagine an American family living a century

[00:50:04] into the future. Warner Brothers revealed the project is in a shareholder letter, which discusses the movie planned for 2027 and beyond. Interesting. So real quick thoughts, initial reaction, Jetsons movie, Jim Carrey involved thoughts. Uh, I feel like this is a little bit late because this is something like the boom or bear of cartoons into thing. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:50:33] They did Flintstones. They did all that. Right. Um, I feel like they are running. Um, but I think there is a chance for it to drive a little bit better because we have better to make something like this. Like imagine how chintzy Rosie, the robot. Exactly. Right. Right. Uh, but now you can like have her, I mean, it might still be chintzy, but I'm like, you know, they, they can have Jim Carrey as, as George Jetson.

[00:51:01] I, that, I don't know how, how, how I feel about that. And it's funny that George, uh, it's funny that Jim Carrey, someone who said that he was quitting acting and then came back for two more films, Dr. Robotnik signing on to play George Jetson. Yeah. Yeah. That's good. That's good. For some reason I could see him in that role, even though George Jetson is, he, he's kind

[00:51:29] of a bumbling idiot, but he's also like the straight man of the show. Right. But I think for some reason it just works in my brain that he could play George Jetson. So, so, so hear me out. Okay. Okay. Danny DeVito. Okay. All right. It's not bad. It's only because I can imagine Danny DeVito yelling at Jim Carrey. Yeah. You know, about how, how he's late to work and like that. All right.

[00:51:56] Uh, the studio didn't offer much in the way of story details, but it did confirm the most important pieces of information. Uh, beyond 2027, the slate will continue to leverage iconic intellectual property, including a live action Jetsons film with Jim Carrey. The same letter also referenced future installments of the matrix and the Batman. Interesting. God. Okay. Um, the matrix, we don't, and I know they want to cash grab that.

[00:52:26] Uh, but we don't, Batman, I know we're, they're doing Batman. So, I mean like Batman, I understand, right? Because they don't need to do more animated stuff because the, um, I don't think they need to do more. Try to do it again. It tries to charm. Yeah. I don't know. I, I think that's a big enough IP where they don't want to let it go. But again, I don't think they know what to do with it. Like I said, uh, do something animated with it. I think. Yeah. We'll see.

[00:52:55] We'll see. By the way. So, uh, again, it came out in 1962 talking about American family in the future, a century in the future, which would put it in 2060. That, which doesn't feel that far off for some weird reason. They would, they, they really would need to push it out. Like, okay, hold on. Did you just say what year the original? 1962. So that would, you know, in 2060 ish. Isn't that weird?

[00:53:26] Well, that's what I was saying is like, uh, what year show was in 1962? What year did it take place? A century ahead. So 2060, 2062. Okay. Okay. So, yeah. So, I mean, they would need to do like 2162. Exactly. Or 21, 2127. Yeah. Give me that. I'm okay with that. Give me that. Give me that. All right. Uh, let's keep it going here. All right. If gods can get recast, no one is safe.

[00:53:55] Prime videos. God of war TV series has already hit a few unexpected bumps during production. And now it sounds like another major change is on the way. According to a new report, the series is expected to recast Atreus, another important young character for season two. So while that may sound surprising at first, fans of the games will probably understand exactly why it's happening.

[00:54:24] According to the casting description obtained by MP1ST, MP1st, MP1st, okay. The actors playing Kratos' son Atreus and Thor's daughter Thread in season one are expected to be recast as older teenage actors when the series moves into its second season. It got a two-season order.

[00:54:47] So, you know, I know we're getting this weird, you know, casting shakeup with God of War, but it actually makes sense. So the story was being told across the acclaimed Norse saga between God of War 2018 and God of War Ragnarok. We're seeing a lot of character development and growth within that time span. Yeah, and I mean, you're aging up the character. Yeah.

[00:55:16] It's like Game of Thrones, House of Dragons season one and season two. Yeah, that's just how it's going to happen because that's what the story is asking for. So no big deal, right? Are you still are you okay with if they bring in Dave Bautista to play? I wouldn't have a problem with Dave Bautista. Funny how he lost all this muscle. He's like, that's where the money is. He's just like, oh, yeah, yeah.

[00:55:44] I was trying to get other roles, but I mean, buff characters. And Dave Bautista makes a lot of sense. In all reality, my first pick would have been a Paul Levesque. Yeah, I see what you're saying. You know who I thought would have been cool? But, you know, he's already tied up with a bunch of other things. But like Alan Richson as Kratos, you know, throw a beard on him and see what happens. I have to cut his hair, though. Okay, sure.

[00:56:13] You know, he sings, too. Yes, I do. I know he was a male model before he got. Obviously, he was a male model before all of that. Yes. All right. Moving on. Your invitation has been revoked. David Fincher has been developing an American version of the Squid Games for Netflix. But the project has reportedly been killed. Get it? Killed? Netflix killed.

[00:56:40] According to the playlist, sources close to Netflix say Fincher's planned Squid Game project isn't moving forward. Exactly what the filmmaker has planned and remains something of a mystery. Netflix hasn't completely abandoned the idea of a Squid Games international storyline yet. Instead, there may be loose plans being discussed for regional spinoffs or set in different countries. As for Fincher, he's okay. Fincher's going to be okay.

[00:57:10] He's currently directing The Adventures of Cliff Booth, the Once Upon a Time in Hollywood sequel starring Brad Pitt. Yeah. And again, I thought this was interesting that, number one, Tarantino is property to someone else. And of all people, it's David Fincher. I mean, like, that's going to be interesting. As far as this goes, as far as like Squid Game America, I had already said before, I didn't feel like this was something we needed.

[00:57:38] I'm happy with, or I am happy with the just show because they're already going international. Yeah. Bringing it to the U.S. is an obvious choice. But give us a season or two of Squid Game International or something like that. Or like what you said, it's in Korea. Like do one in, I don't know, Brazil or something else. And it could still work eventually leading up to like Squid Game America, whether David Fincher is involved or not.

[00:58:07] But it still doesn't take the show or the concept off the board. I think it just because it's maybe reshuffling things with David Fincher concentrating on the Cliff Booth movie. Like, all right, let's just pause on the American version of Squid Game and let's see what else we can do. I don't think Netflix is going to walk away from Squid Games.

[00:58:33] They have an interesting way of taking an IP that works, that may have ended or run its course, but reinventing it. Like the way they're doing Stranger Things Tales from 85. I think that's a brilliant way to continue stories within that universe for the fans of that show without meddling with making the actual series run too long.

[00:59:02] All right. I don't know. Put a poll in the chat. Do you want more Squid Games or something like that? What's weird, though? The kids, my kids will come home like, oh, how was school? What'd you do? What'd you do at recess? We played Squid Game. What? How do you play Squid Game at school? They're like... So who died? Yeah, exactly.

[00:59:29] It sounds super scary and like we should be worried, but it's like that's what they just call red light, green light now. They don't know it as red light, green light. They know it as Squid Game. So, oh, we played Squid Game. Like, oh, okay. I'll take it for now, I guess. Also, let me talk to your principal. All right. Next story. New IP for Disney? Well, sort of. Sort of new IP.

[00:59:57] Disney Plus has ordered a pilot for Spaceship Earth, a new TV series inspired by the classic Epcot attraction housed inside the park's massive geodesic sphere.

[01:00:12] Rather than simply turning in the ride into a straightforward adaption, the creative team is using its ideas about humanity, communication, technology, and history as the foundation for a much bigger story involving teenagers pulled together from different points in time. How do you say his last name? Jason Fuchs? Let's go with that. I think it is pronounced Fuchs. I don't give to Fuchs if I'm wrong.

[01:00:38] So, Jason Fuchs, co-creator of It, Welcome to Derry, and writer for Netflix live action My Hero Academia, will serve as showrunner and executive producer alongside executive producer Michael Waldron from MCU, you know, things, who has been a driving force writing Marvel projects like Loki, Doctor Strange, Doomsday, and I didn't realize this, he also wrote Heels for Stars.

[01:01:08] Oh, shit, he wrote Heels? Nice. Yeah, excellent show. Excellent show. So, for now, Spaceship Earth only has a pilot order. Get it? Spaceship Earth pilot order. There's no guarantee we'll actually get to watch a full season takeoff. Get it? Takeoff? I see what you did there. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on.

[01:01:39] I needed that. That's good. There you go. I big my friends up. All right? Bigging you up right there. You know, to be honest, I know nothing about Spaceship Earth. I've been to Disney World, but I didn't get to see Epcot. So, I don't even, I have no attachment to Spaceship Earth. I don't know anything about it. I've never been to. Yeah. So, okay. Disney Plus. Well, what's nice is like, oh, Disney Plus is getting a project. That's good. It's not Marvel.

[01:02:09] It's not Star Wars. Not Star Wars. That'll do, Donkey. That'll do. All right. Stone by day. Warriors by night. More than 30 years after Gargoyles first brought Goliath and his clan to the rooftops of New York City. It looks like Disney's cult favorite animated series is finally getting a comeback.

[01:02:30] Original series star Brett Spiner, data from Star Trek The Next Generation, has revealed that a new animated Gargoyle series is in development. No official statement from Disney or Disney Plus. But, hey, D23, right around the corner. We're starting to get all these Disney rumors. So, are you excited to finally get more Gargoyles? I am. 100%. I have been waiting for this for a while.

[01:02:57] So, I was kind of excited when they talked about doing a live action thing and keep Diggs on the hook for it. Right. But hearing that they're going to do more of the cartoon, I'm 100% on this. I want more of this. I want to see more of Xanados. I want to see more of all the different characters that are involved in this. You know what I mean? I'm so excited to get more. I want the X-Men 97 treatment for Gargoyles.

[01:03:29] Was this on after Batman, the animated series? Yes. Like on Fox or whatever? Yeah. Yeah. This came out late 90s. Right. But, I mean, I think it was like Batman at 4 o'clock and then Gargoyles at 430 or something like that. Was that, if I remember right? Well, Gargoyles eventually ended up going to like... Okay. I remember it being like an after school. There you go. Yeah, I liked that whole era of a little bit darker tone, a little bit more mature tone to animation.

[01:03:59] Did so well. You know, Batman, the animated series, Gargoyles. What was the other one you said? You said another one. I forgot. But I loved it. I think it's pretty cool. And I didn't realize it at the time, but a lot of the Star Trek Next Generation cast is in Gargoyles. Yeah. I have no idea why, but like Brett Spiner is in it and then Jonathan Frakes is in it as well. And there was a few others. I forgot who was in it. But I was like, why is this happening?

[01:04:29] Why do we have so many Star Trek Enterprise crew members in the show? But that's cool. Hey, Easy Money, this is just for you. Woo! Woo! I love it. Anyway, okay. Gargoyles done. I think that was my last one shot. That is your last one shot. All right. Well, guys, before we jump into the last section of news, we've got one more sponsor. John Mazz, tell them about our last sponsor here tonight.

[01:04:59] Let's see. All right. Distance Dirty is part of the Geek Freaks Network. Discovering your latest binge, debating casting choices, or still not over that plot twist, the Geek Freaks Network has got you covered. Your fandom, your community, your people. Geek out your way. Check out Geek Freaks Network at GFPods.com. All right. Awesomeness. So let's get into the last couple of news bites that we've got here, guys. It's time for the headlines.

[01:05:28] We're going to talk about what we've got left in the news here. We've got some fun stuff coming up here. Because, guys, a long, long time ago in a basement far away. Take offense to that. Star Wars and Dungeons and Dragons are officially crossing over. The announcement came from Wizards of the Coast, which confirmed that a Dungeons and Dragons Star Wars collaboration is on the way during the season of Rebellion in 2027. There aren't any details on what form the crossover will take. The possibilities are endless.

[01:05:57] Will the Force replace traditional magic? Players build parties made up of Jedi, smugglers, bounty hunters, droids, and maybe one very, very confused part. For now, though, fans will have to be patient. Wizards of the Coast is keeping its cards close to the vest, and Devin is still a little ways off. May the Force and the natural 20 be with you. All nat 20.

[01:06:24] I am throwing that in the... Cargoes is awesome. If you use the Force to get yourself a nat 20, since the Force is natural, is that still a nat 20? Yes, but also... Also, I feel like the only way to get a Force to do nat 20 is if you have, like, loaded dice. There you go. There it is. Cool.

[01:06:53] They're going to adapt this, but it makes sense to bring in a big... Two big IPs and have them cross over like this. I think this could open a lot more doors if this works out really well. I agree, man. It would be fun. I mean, there's all these crossovers going on. Magic has a lot of crossovers. Being a D&D crossover, like a tabletop Star Wars that is, you know, like a 5e world game would be fun.

[01:07:20] So, we're definitely going to try it out. I'm sure already, like, gearing up because it's Matt Aguilar and he plays all... Yeah, exactly. He'll know more about it. We'll have to watch comicbook.com and wait for Matt's corner. So, it's either a... Hello there. Or a... Well, ladies and gentlemen, let's move on. Just because this one. WWE, the MCU, Dune, God of War.

[01:07:48] Now, Darth Drax? Drax? Oh, no. He already is the destroyer. Never mind. Dave Bautista could be heading to a galaxy far, far away. And if this report turns out to be legit, he feels like a good fit for a Star Wars universe. Bautista has already made his mark on some massive franchises with Guardians of the Galaxy, CD, MCU, Dune, Blade Runner. He's in all the fun things.

[01:08:14] And now, the former WWE star is reportedly jumping aboard a mystery Star Wars project for Disney and Lucasfilm. Industry insider MyTimeToShineHello shared the report on X saying Dave Bautista has been cast in a Star Wars project. That's all the information we have right now. There's no word on who Bautista may be playing. I wanted to say Bautista for some reason. And that's like, I just Filipino-fired a Filipino name already.

[01:08:43] I went Halepinoi. Like, I was like, Flabby on his name. Who wanted Bautista? I'm wondering who he might play. What kind of Star Wars character would you like to see Bautista play? You know, let us know in the comments, in the comment section, what character you think Bautista would play best. Right now, right off the bat, he's got to play some kind of villain, some kind of force-sensitive villain.

[01:09:06] Like, the way he is in, like, the Dune movies, you know, he could play Dark really, really well. Yeah. Like, give him something. Like, the whole thing with him is that he wants to take on roles where he can push himself, you know, and tell good stories. We don't want just another hero-type character. Like, let him shine as a villain. Somebody that's dark, demented, can get physical, you know?

[01:09:32] But also very, very, I don't know how to put this. Like, I keep picturing him in Dune. I'm like, give me that guy. Give me the Dune guy. But, like, I feel like the way, like, think on the opposite spectrum, the character that he played in Blade Runner 2077. You know, that character would lend itself to a good Jedi. Yeah. I can see that. He can play stoic.

[01:10:02] He can play measured and calm really well. That's a good point. Good point. I mean, I feel like any character that you put Dave Bautista in. Yeah. You know, you're right. He could definitely pull off something like that. But I want to see that Dave Bautista that can get unhinged. I want that. You know, as long as I get that somehow, let's make that happen. Brush your head like a Zark. Now I'm invisible. I can see you. Damn it.

[01:10:36] All right. Well, let's continue on here. Because, again, this is fun. But, again, let us know in the comments what you guys, what kind of character you think. One more mission for Snips and the Sky Guy. Hayden Christensen is officially returning as Anakin Skywalker for the second season of the Star Wars series Ahsoka. And an intriguing new detail about his appearance has opened the door for something fans have wanted for years.

[01:11:04] More of live action Clone Wars materials. If long running rumors pan out, we can even see Anakin Ahsoka Tano and Obi-Wan Kenobi together in live action. According to The Direct, some viewers who have reportedly been given an early look at Anakin in Ahsoka Season 2 have pointed out that the character has a different appearance. Flashback? World Between Worlds? Anything else? Anything else?

[01:11:28] Ahsoka Season 2 has been pushed from late 2026 to at least 2027, making it the only upcoming live action Star Wars TV series currently confirmed. Interesting. Interesting. It's got to be a flashback, right? That's the only thing that makes the most sense, unless you have some kind of Force Ghost scene. Yeah, or the World Between Worlds stuff. Yeah, the World Between Worlds makes a lot of sense.

[01:11:54] There's a lot of ways that we're, but I think fans want the most, all three of them fighting in live action. Yes, I think that will happen. But I also think they're going to find a way to put Hayden Christensen, Ewan McGregor, and Rosario Dawson somehow together on camera. Like an older version of Ahsoka with Obi-Wan with Anakin, I guess.

[01:12:20] I think there's going to be somehow they're going to make that happen, whether it's World Between Worlds or something like that. Somebody else actually mentioned this, and I was like, oh, that's kind of intriguing. Like, what if when we get to Ahsoka Season 2 and they're exploring, was it Peridia or whatever it's called, the planet that they're on? Right. Then they have the Mortis Gods statue and all that.

[01:12:44] What if the Mortis Gods assume, like, the face, the look of Anakin Skywalker? Well, so there's been a long rumor that Anakin indeed. So, I mean, if they go kind of like that route and have Anakin son, then that could make time. How does Obi-Wan fit into all this? Yes, we'll see. We'll see. Oh, by the way, real quick. Easy money in the chat. Talking about Dave Bautista.

[01:13:11] He's also playing Kurgan in the Highlander. I forgot about that one. That's why he got big again. And that's why he's big right now. And that's why, like, they're saying, okay, well, he's already ripped again. But again, like, this is a chance for him to go and play Kratos now. Yeah. I like it. It's cool. I like it. Okay. Back to Star Wars. I want to see Rosario, Ewan, and Hayden somehow on screen together. I don't know what they're going to do, but I kind of want to see that.

[01:13:40] I think if anything, it'll end up. Yeah. I think it's going to be more Clone Wars stories being told. Which, that's got to be a dream come true. She's already done a scene with Christian Hadenson. Now you're doing one with Christian Hadenson and Ewan McGregor. Like, that'd be amazing. All right. There we go. All right. Well, let's move on to the last story here because we've got one last Star Wars story to talk about here. Where does Filoni want to take Star Wars storytelling? A lot of possibilities.

[01:14:09] The expectation has been that Dave Filoni would bring the stories of the Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Skeleton crew together in one massive Star Wars crossover movie. Now, a new rumor suggests Lucasfilm may have completely different plans. According to scooper Daniel Reichman, Lucasfilm is reportedly reworking Heir to the Empire from the feature film into a limited Disney Plus series. Thank you, God. Thank you, Mortis Gods.

[01:14:35] If the report is accurate, the project would act as the grand finale for the Mandalorian, Ahsoka, and Skeleton crew. All of those interconnected stories to an end in episodic form instead of a theatrical release, which is what we need. Instead of squeezing years of storytelling and a huge cast of characters into a single movie, a limited series would have much more room to explore the New Republic era, resolving lingering storylines, and give its characters the attention they deserve.

[01:15:06] As always, worth remembering that this hasn't been confirmed by Filoni, Lucasfilm, or Disney. Still has time to ruin this. Well, it's finally, you know, this story or this episode, I should say, has been a lot of like what Disney Plus is not doing anymore.

[01:15:26] So knowing that they want us like say, hey, Filoni, go push Star Wars on Disney Plus and make it amazing, make it grandioso. I think that's good. I think him being in charge of creative at Lucasfilm gives him that kind of pull where he goes, you know what? Disney, I know you want to put stuff in the theaters. We tried it. It didn't quite work out.

[01:15:52] Let's finish these stories on Disney Plus, how they're meant to be told. And I think they're going to be like, okay, you're right. It's not like we can walk away from Star Wars projects. Go make the best versions you can. Go. I need this to breathe as a series. I need this to be a series. If you try and stuff everything into a film, you end up getting kind of like this shaky.

[01:16:16] Again, I like Mandalorian and Grogu, but it ended up feeling like kind of rushed through an entire season of storylines and put it all in a movie. And I don't want that out of this. I don't want the culmination, the final swan song of all these characters to be something that is just, hey, we're going to go and throw it all into a film and make it feel like I don't want that. You know what I mean?

[01:16:41] I would like the same care that Mandalorian and Grogu had, like the stop motion that they did, amazing onscreen work that they did with everything. You know, the choreography was amazing. I would like that and do, if you're going to do a limited series, like, you know, if you finish the story within four to six episodes, then do that. Yeah, I totally agree. Look at what Disney has done with Star Wars storytelling on Disney+. Like it's done so well.

[01:17:10] Like that's how things need to be done with Star Wars. Honestly, like with The Mandalorian and Ahsoka and some of these other shows, it's done so well. If they would have put some of these in the theater, I think they would have bombed. So letting them have life on Disney+, totally worked out for Star Wars. I don't know. Yeah, that's kind of where I sit, is it needs to be. That's the plan of that.

[01:17:40] And executive trying to say, oh, it should be a movie. We need to make money. Shut up. Yeah, I agree. I agree. But, you know, like the way that Filoni and Favreau handle Mandalorian, it's like, okay, they're overseeing the project. They're overseeing the storyline. But they bring in some amazing directors to oversee like episodes and certain story arcs. Do that. Do more of that.

[01:18:05] But like on a bigger scale with not just The Mandalorian, but with Ahsoka and other series that you want to produce. Have your team oversee the story, but then bring in some of these amazing actors to help put it together. I think that works. I think that's a good formula for them. Works out extremely well. I mean, we're going to get way better story on screen chemistry. Yep. Yep. I agree. Well, that is it for our news for today. Talk about our schedule.

[01:18:33] This week's schedule, you are now watching Distance Nerd. And reviews will be, lately we've been doing reviews as separate videos on all the social media. Check all of our social media. And we put out daily on different things that are out there. Fun stuff. You know, everything. All kinds of stuff. Thursday, the down. What was I going to say? Thursdays, we have guests. Very excited for this. Watson, who is comics.

[01:19:01] So I absolutely love all the work that he does. Talking about everything that's going on. And of course, real quick, we're starting to get animatics. There was another story that I didn't put in, but I should put in next week. But the Biker Mice series, the storyboards are starting to come out. And they look fun. Comics are the bridge. Check it out. The series that Watson is doing is kind of re-injured. Biker Mice from Mars fan, like I was when you were. This is like a game. Nice.

[01:19:31] And of course, Fridays is game night, guys. So we typically do. Graveyard said that he has Jetnerdy ready. And that we maybe will be a term on whether we're playing or not on Thursday. So we'll let you know. Of course, with that being said, ladies and gentlemen, as always, you can go to a party. Head over to distancenerdy.com and join the taco party. You can make it so that nerding makes it so that. And hey, if you guys are interested, a Patreon is coming soon. So keep your eyes out for that. And super chat. You can even super chat us too. That's right.

[01:20:01] You can always super chat us as well, guys. So Patreon. We may be doing like out on the things that are over there. Of course, ladies and gentlemen, you can connect with us all the social media play at distance nerding. Of course, you can email us. All right. With that being said, we love you all, ladies and gentlemen. Bruce, go to sleep. And thanks. And keep nerding together. Right, buddy. Go to bed. It's bedtime. All night, sir. You got middle school now, buddy. All right, everybody. Thanks. Deuces.

[01:20:32] Right. Later. And you guys have a good catch, everybody. Distance nerding. This was a production of the Distance Nerding Podcast and Time for Tacos Media.

[01:21:00] For more content, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Twitch, YouTube, and TikTok, all at Distance Nerding. If you enjoy our content, please leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thanks and keep nerding together.