Month: April 2021

Like superhero comics, fighting game franchise Mortal Kombat is packed full of complicated continuity involving resurrections, reincarnations, and revivals of characters, and Sub-Zero actor Joe Taslim doesn’t see why this practice can’t make its way into the new live-action movies. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Taslim detailed the ways he thinks Sub-Zero can live on should Mortal Kombat see a sequel or prequel.

For those of you who haven’t sat down and watched the new Mortal Kombat movie just yet–spoilers alert–the villainous Sub-Zero does not survive the film. The ice-based fighter meets his end after a climactic confrontation with the resurrected Scorpion, who returns to settle an old score. This particular plotline is adapted based on stories from the video games, but in the games, Sub-Zero’s death results in his transformation into Noob Saibot.

“That’s the next transformation for the character,” Taslim explained. “If the fans want this franchise to continue, then there’s a strong chance that the next step for Bi-Han is to play Noob Saibot. Fingers crossed, but I hope it happens because I definitely want to play that character.”

This would also open the door for a new Sub-Zero to enter the fray, seeing as Bi-Han becoming Noob Saibot would make room for his brother, Kuai Liang, to become the new Sub-Zero, which Taslim likes. “Yeah, I like that idea. If they do a sequel, then we are probably going to see Noob Saibot. If they do a prequel, then we would get to see two future Sub-Zeros in one movie, and that would be intriguing.”

However, for as enthusiastic as Taslim is about taking Sub-Zero on the journey to Noob, he’s just as invested in a potential prequel which could explore more of his pre-Sub-Zero existence as the ninja Bi-Han. “The most interesting path, in my opinion, is to do a prequel,” Taslim said. “It would be a story about Bi-Han and his training in the Lin Kuei. When he got abducted by the Lin Kuei, his parents were killed. So it would be the process of him and his brother becoming assassins.”

Of course, either outcome would likely be fulfilling for Taslim’s 10-year-old son, who Taslim said is a huge fan of both Mortal Kombat and Sub-Zero. When Taslim asked which character he ought to play in the film, his son’s immediate answer was Sub-Zero, which made Taslim believe his casting was “meant to be.”

Mortal Kombat is currently streaming on HBO Max.

WizKids has two new sets of miniatures that give Druids and polymorphing characters a bit more representation–or for players who want to fight a shark. D&D Icons of the Realms: Wild Shape and Polymorph Sets feature miniatures modeled after various animals from the fantasy realm, and like most of WizKids’ miniatures, they are highly-detailed with some excellent paint jobs.

Released this month, the two Wild Shape and Polymorph Sets feature animals and beasts from the world of Dungeons & Dragons that you can battle, shapeshift into, or have as your familiar, depending on the situation. Check out some of the minis from Set 1 below.

Set 1 features seven minis including a cat, giant boar, giant octopus, giant shark, giant toad, rat, and tiger. As you can see in the image above, they vary in size, and have stunning paint jobs on each one. And look at that giant toad, ready to eat your player and digest it very slowly. Delicious! And who doesn’t want to encounter a shark and fight it–or polymorph into it? Your players can recreate your favorite scene from Sharknado in your campaign with the addition of this mini to your collection.

The giant octopus looks exceptionally cool, and while coming across this creature in your D&D game may be a bit of a rarity, maybe your DM will make an exception. It features an extremely impressive sculpt with subtle nuances to to the paint, helping create some really cool looking textures on the tentacles.

This set of minifigures is available now for $45 on Amazon. They are also available to check out on the WizKids store, where you can find out where to buy this set at your local gaming store.

There is also D&D Icons of the Realms: Wild Shape and Polymorph Set 2, which features a different batch of animals. This set of minis includes a brown bear, dire wolf, giant ape, giant eagle, giant wolf spider, owl, and polar bear. Once again, there is a tremendous amount of detail between all these minis, all of which sit on a clear base so they don’t obstruct the battlefield.

With this new set, you could take your wizard character Henry Potter and have him accompanied by his owl Hedwin. Or your resilient fighter character Jon Smow could have his trusty dire wolf Toast right by his side. Heck, you could even have your lovable hobbit Fro-yo Baggins ride to victory on the back of a giant eagle–who doesn’t have a name. It’s just a giant eagle.

Currently, Wild Shape and Polymorph Set 2 is not available for preorder on Amazon, but it is listed on the WizKids Store. It will also retail for $45 when it arrives in stores and online.

WizKids has been pumping out a lot of very cool products in recent months in order to improve your D&D games. Check out some of the Warlock tile sets and accessories, new Boneyard minis, and a life-size severed hand in a jar–it’s not real, so don’t worry.

NBC has renewed Young Rock for a second season. The announcement came via Variety, which also revealed the renewal for the the sitcom Kenan.

Young Rock is, of course, the NBC series about Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, portraying the wrestler and actor at various points throughout his life, from his childhood to his college days and beyond. Johnson himself executive produces and serves as the show’s narrator.

“From my perspective, this was truly a love letter to professional wrestling, which is a business that I grew up in and a business that I’ve loved all my life and learned some of my most valuable, while very unorthodox, lessons coming out of the world of pro wrestling,” Johnson said of the show during the TCA winter press tour. “So to highlight and showcase these men who were, in essence, my superheroes–they didn’t wear capes when I was a little boy.”

This isn’t the only Young Rock news this week, as just yesterday we learned that Johnson’s Young Rock co-star Uli Latukefu, who plays a younger Rock on the series, will join Johnson in his upcoming Black Adam movie. His role is currently unknown.

Kenan, meanwhile, stars the titular comedian Kenan Thompson as a widowed dad raising two girls while hosting a morning show.

Neither show has a return date yet; however, since Kenan’s first season ended this week and Young Rock still has its finale to air, don’t expect to see either series back on the air soon.

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Although George A. Romero passed away in 2017, his final zombie movie Twilight of the Dead is in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Romero’s wife, Suzanne Romero, has been working with screenwriters to complete the final movie Romero had been working on up until his death.

Romero wrote the treatment for Twilight of the Dead with Paolo Zelati, who got permission from Suzanne Romero to continue working on the project. Zelati has now brought on Joe Knetter (Blind) and Robert L. Lucas (One for the Fire: The Legacy of Night of the Living Dead) to help write.

“I gave him my full blessing as long as I could be there every step of the way for it to remain true to George’s vision,” Suzanne Romero said. “We had a solid treatment and the beginning of the script. I can 100 percent say that George would be incredibly happy to see this continue. He wanted this to be his final stamp on the zombie genre.”

Twilight of the Dead will continue in the zombie-infested world created by Romero with 1968’s Night of the Living Dead. The official logline reads: “The story is set in a decimated world. Life has all but disappeared. But there still may be hope for humanity.”

According to Zelati, it furthers the idea of an intelligent zombie, which we saw in 2005’s Land of the Dead, asking the question, “Where do the zombies go at the end?”

After Land of the Dead, Romero directed two more films set in that universe. First was 2007’s Diary of the Dead–a movie about people filming a horror movie that becomes infested with very real zombies. This was followed by 2009’s Survival of the Dead, which took place on an island off of Delaware where two feuding families deal with a zombie infestation.

“It is no secret that Diary and Survival were not the way he envisioned the series ending and George knew it very well,” Zelati told THR. “Twilight of the Dead was his goodbye to the genre he created and wanted to go out with a powerful film.”

At the time of this writing, there is no release date for Twilight of the Dead.

The next major zombie movie is coming to the small screen. Zack Snyder–who directed the well-received 2004 remake of Romero’s Dawn of the Dead–has a follow-up to his zombie flick titled Army of the Dead, coming to Netflix on May 21. There’s more than just undead humans to be afraid of with this movie, as the latest trailer showed off a zombie tiger.

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