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WIRE Buzz: Netflix to air new Pokemon; Michael Mando up for Scorpion spinoff; and more
Gotta binge em' all! Netflix now has the power of a Pokémon gym leader. Today, the streaming titan announced a new partnership with The Pokémon Company International, which will see future episodes of the animated series exclusively debut on the platform in the United States.
The team-up (not unlike the OG team-up between Ash, Misty, and Brock) kicks into high gear Friday, June 12 with the release of 12 episodes from the show's impending 23rd season, which falls under Pokémon Journeys: the Series. This iteration of the show has only premiered in Japan so far. Follow-up episodes on Netflix are scheduled to arrive on a quarterly basis for the remainder of the season.
You can check out the teaser below. In addition to some of the more recent Pocket Monsters, you'll also spy some old school faces like Lugia, Snorlax, and Magikarp. Plus, you'll catch (pun intended) a few snippets of the fresh theme song written and performed by Walk off the Earth.
Journeys begins when Ash and his Pikachu visit Cerise Laboratory, a research facility dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of Pokémon from every region. There, Ash (still on his quest to become a Pokémon Master) meets Goh, another young trainer who yearns to catch one of every Pokémon in existence. The two boys become fast friends and end up as research fellows for Professor Cerise.
“With their tremendous reach and ability for fans to enjoy content anytime and anywhere, Netflix is the ideal partner to premiere new episodes of the beloved animated Pokémon series in the U.S.,” Emily Arons, senior vice president of international business at The Pokémon Company, said in a statement. “We can’t wait for Pokémon fans of all ages to continue discovering the spirit of adventure and friendship in Pokémon Journeys: The Series, our newest season coming to Netflix this June.”
Over in Sony's Spider-Verse, Michael Mando is raring and ready to go for a Scorpion spinoff project if that ever becomes a reality. Chatting with ScreenRant, the Better Call Saul actor vocalized his interest in reprising Mac Gargan, whom he briefly played in Spider-Man: Homecoming.
"I think that would be fascinating – a detective who goes rogue," Mando said. "Mac Gargan kind of goes a little bit insane, and there’s also this other story where he becomes Venom as well. I think it’s a very, very rich character; it’s a dark character. And he’s a cop at the end of the day; he’s a detective. I think that’d be something that I would definitely be something I’d like to watch."
Last we saw of Gargan, he was in jail with Adrien Toomes (Michael Keaton), wary of Toomes' story about how Spider-Man (Tom Holland) got away. While it's unlikely that Mando's character will get a standalone project, there's a decent chance he could end up in a Sinister Six film. Keaton's surprise cameo in the Morbius trailer highly suggests a big screen team-up of Spidey villains brewing down the road.
Created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, Gargan first arrived in the mid-1960s as a private investigator hired by J. Jonah Jameson who wanted to know how Peter Parker was able to get such impeccable photos of Spider-Man.
Gargan later took part in a procedure meant to endow him with the abilities of a certain animal. The experiment caused him to go insane and take up the mantle of Scorpion, a persona aided by a mechanical green suit outfitted with a deadly stinger. In 2005's Marvel Knight's: Spider-Man #10, Gargan did indeed become a new version of Venom.
The villain, with his full stinger costume, had a small role in 2018's Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, where he was voiced by Joaquín Cosío.
Feeling a little peckish as you help save the world by staying at home?
Why not check out Marvel's upcoming cookbook, Eat the Universe?
Written by celebrity chef Justin Warner, the delectable publication is packed with recipes inspired by Marvel's most famous characters like Phoenix, Nova, Dazzler, Green Goblin, Hulk, and a ton more.
The book is an extension of Warner's cooking web series of the same name. Do us a favor, though. If you do get hungry, don't go all Galactus and start devouring planets; don't literally devour the universe. Just eat human food, please. If you must eat a planet, make sure it's uninhabited first.
Eat the Universe goes on sale Tuesday, July 28. Pre-order a copy right here.
