WIRE Buzz: Avenue 5 welcomes space vacationers; Mortal Kombat wraps; Pokémon animated series

Avenue 5 isn’t just the name of HBO’s upcoming space disaster comedy from Armando Iannucci, the mastermind behind Veep. It’s also the name of the ship, helmed by Hugh Laurie’s Captain Ryan Clark, on which rich passengers hope to luxuriate far from life’s hassles. Until the ship strikes disaster and the profanity flies faster than hyperspeed, that is.

But until that point, the vacation looks alluring. Who better to tell genre fans about it than Avenue 5 owner and Judd Galaxy founder Herman Judd (Josh Gad)?

Take a look:

That wig is already worth the price of entry. The rhyming, strange, tongue-in-cheek commercial sets the stage for silly, strange, dry sci-fi comedy. Zach Woods, Nikki Amuka, Rebecca Front, Lenora Crichlow, Suzy Nakamura, and Ethan Phillips join Laurie and Gad aboard this adventure, which should strike as oddball a tone as that faux ad.

Avenue 5 hits HBO on Jan. 19.

Next, Mortal Kombat has, in fact, finished him. “Him” of course refers to the upcoming reboot film from New Line Cinema and director Simon McQuoid, which wrapped production on Friday. According to the film’s writer Greg Russo — and confirmed by stars like Ludi Lin and Mehcad Brooks — the Australian-shot movie has completed filming. 

Take a look:

Now, the presumably effects-heavy video game adaptation is heading to post-production where the stunt work will be augmented by frost abilities, lightning magic, and variously gruesome ways for combatants to “get over here!”

Mortal Kombat brings its battle to fans a few months earlier than previously announced, bumping up its release date to January 15, 2021.

Finally, Pokémon is following its long-held franchise tradition of monetizing its newest game in every medium possible. Now that the monster-catching game’s newest entries (Sword and Shield on the Nintendo Switch) have made a splash, it’s time for an animated TV version to explore the new, British-inspired region of Galar.

The Pokémon Company announced that the limited animated series Pokémon: Twilight Wings will air on the official Pokémon YouTube channel. Seven episodes, five minutes apiece, Twilight Wings will be very different and canonically separate from the main Pokémon TV series. Instead, Studio Colorido (Penguin Highway) will highlight the new region and its residents rather than tracking the exploits of Ash and Pikachu.

Twilight Wings hits YouTube on Jan. 15.