WIRE Buzz: ViacomCBS streaming service; Gareth Edwards' new sci-fi flick; Transformers/My Little Pony comic

Thanks to the recent CBS-Viacom merger, we're about to add one more service to the streaming wars. According to CNBC, the streaming service will build off what it has already established with CBS All Access. Both CBS and Viacom have their own respective streaming services. Deadline, which confirms the CNBC report, says the new streaming service will "combine CBS All Access with other Viacom assets including Pluto TV, Nickelodeon, BET, MTV, Comedy Central and Paramount Pictures."

CNBC also had some details about the ad-supported streaming service including what kind of programming viewers can expect. "An ad-free version will also be available, and a premium version of the streaming service will include Showtime, the people said. ViacomCBS executives haven’t decided on a name for the service, nor a price, though the base service will probably be less than $10 a month."

What would the new streaming service mean for shows like Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Picard? According to additional reporting by CNBC, ViacomCBS will keep CBS All Access in existence and market the new ViacomCBS service to current subscribers with the hope being subscribers will upgrade to the expanded streaming service. We will hopefully know more about what this means for the Trek-verse as details are finalized. 

It looks like Gareth Edwards, the director behind Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has found his next project. Edwards, reports Variety, is slated to write and direct a new sci-fi film for New Regency (Ad Astra). New Regency will finance and produce the yet-to-be-named project. Kiri Hart, also of Rogue One, will produce.

Variety says the film is "an original idea by Edwards ... a near-future sci-fi story." No plot details were released, and there's no word yet on casting. The film is expected to shoot this summer.

Gareth Edwards has also directed films like 2014's Godzilla and Monsters, though he may be best known for his work on Rogue One. We can't wait to see what Edwards will cook up in the months to come! 

IDW Comics is bringing to life the crossover to end all crossovers. The company revealed a planned comics crossover that will see the Transformers meet My Little Pony in a limited four-issue miniseries.

io9 reports the story picks up after the "scheming Queen Chrysalis casts a spell in search of changeling allies, but accidentally interferes with a distant Cybertronian Spacebridge… and brings the Autobots and Decepticons to Equestria!" Amidst that chaos, Optimus Prime and Twilight Sparkle have to put the pieces of their worlds back together.

IDW Publishing's comics crossovers have been a big hit with fans, and this could be the most weirdly ambitious yet. Writer James Asmus says working on the miniseries has been a blast,  “We’re making a wild mash-up unlike anything else in your comic collection. You basically owe it to yourself and your future happiness to get a copy!”

Joining Asmus on the creative team are writers Ian Flynn, and Sam Maggs, and artists Casey W. Coller, Jack Lawrence, Sara Pitre-Durocher, Tony Fleecs, and Tramontano, with a special cover by Beth McGuire-Smith.

Speaking about this legendary mash-up IDW Editor-In-Chief John Barber, “We’re all really excited to see this mashup of characters by a mashup of creators who are honoring the legacy of both universes… and doing it in the most bonkers, fun way imaginable!”

It's hard to say no with a pitch like that! The four-issue miniseries will be available this coming May.