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WIRE Buzz: Stargirl Season 2 finds Thunderbolt; Henry Golding teases Snake Eyes; Peacock's 'Trollstopia'
Stargirl just made an electrifying addition to its cast of characters for Season 2. According to a new report by Entertainment Weekly, comedian/actor Jim Gaffigan will voice the CGI Thunderbolt (real name: Yz), described as "a magical, electrical, fun-loving, wish-granting pink imp from the mysterious land of Bahdnesia." Naturally, the wishes he grants always have an ironic flip-side, "but despite his somewhat constant supernatural disasters, the Thunderbolt's heart is always in the right place, even if it is wounded by the friends he has lost throughout his long existence," writes EW.
The pink pen in which Thunderbolt resides (it's basically his magic lamp) was set up during Courtney's visit to the JSA headquarters in Season 1.
Originally a DC Universe exclusive, Stargirl moved to The CW after its renewal over the summer. This was around the time that streaming service starting showing signs of going belly up. The series was already airing episodes on the network the day after they premiered on DC Universe.
Season 2 is expected to premiere sometime next year.
"Everybody's got a really good journey ahead of them," series creator Geoff Johns promised at New York Comic Con.
Brec Bassinger, Yvette Monreal, Anjelika Washington, Cameron Gellman, Trae Romano, Jake Austin Walker, Meg DeLacy, Neil Jackson, Christopher James Baker, Amy Smart, Luke Wilson, Hunter Sansone, and Nick Tarabay co-star.
Next fall, Paramount will give us a glimpse into the origin of the G.I. Joe ninja known as Snake Eyes. Recently chatting with Entertainment Weekly, the project's star, Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), explained why the film — directed by Red's Robert Schwentke — is a unique blockbuster.
"I think the heart of the story really is who Snake is and his journey as a person, really. Understanding his motivations," he said. "Compared to other hero-centric blockbusters we've seen. I can't give away too much, but it really focuses on the one person instead of having 20 people on screen and understanding background. We start from the beginning. And, hopefully, this launches an amazing franchise."
The actor tweeted something similar over the summer after seeing an early cut of the movie: "Holy hell. This is the exact opposite of the cookie cutter, super people movies. Wow. You guys are in for something insane, I can't wait for you all to get your mits on this beast. Yowzers!!!! Literally grinning from ear-to-ear."
The Snake Eyes production actually got the rare opportunity to shoot some footage in Japan, which helped lean into the cultural authenticity of the main character who trains as a ninja in order to avenge the death of his father (played by The Expanse's Steven Allerick).
"Robert is a huge Japanese cinephile, everything from [Akira] Kurosawa to just the phenomenal Spaghetti Westerns of samurai movies," Golding added of Schwentke. "He is so hooked into that history and we see some of those scenes. With some of the fight scenes there are some chimbara [Japanese sword-fighting] sequences. A lot of attention to cultural detail was put into this movie. There are not a lot of movies that are allowed to film in Japan and we went to some amazing, amazing places. The authenticity is there."
Andrew Koji, Samara Weaving, Úrsula Corberó, Haruka Abe, Iko Uwais, and Takehiro Hira co-star. In particular, Koji is playing the hero's archnemesis: Storm Shadow.
Penned by Evan Spiliotopoulos, Snake Eyes drops into theaters everywhere Oct. 22, 2021. It was originally slated to open this fall, but was delayed by a year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Peacock is expanding its roster of kids programming with a number of new series, including one inspired by DreamWorks' Trolls movies. That would be Trollstopia, which is described as "the next chapter in the hair-raising adventures of the Trolls." Now that she's aware of the existence of other musical Trolls, poppy attempts to set up an idyllic society (the titular "Trollstopia") with all the different tribes throughout the forest.
The voice cast features: Skylar Astin (Pitch Perfect), Amanda Leighton (This Is Us), David Flynn (Undateable), Ron Funches (Undateable), Kenan Thompson (Saturday Night Live), Megan Hilty (Smash), Jeanine Mason (Roswell), Kat Graham (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Kevin Michael Richardson (American Dad).
The series will premiere on Peacock Thursday, Nov. 19. Matthew Beans (DreamWorks Trolls: The Beat Goes On!) serves as executive producer.
Next up, we have The Mighty Ones, an animated program about a twig, a pebble, a leaf, and a strawberry living in an unkempt backyard owned by a trio of equally unkempt humans, whom the objects mistake for gods. "Despite their diminutive stature, The Mighty Ones are determined to live large and have fun in their wild world," reads the official synopsis.
Jessica McKenna (Little Big Awesome), Alex Cazares (The Boss Baby: Back in Business), Jimmy Tatro (Modern Family), and Josh Brener (Silicon Valley) comprise the voice cast. Sunil Hall (Pickle and Peanut) and Lynne Naylor (Samurai Jack) created the show and serve as executive producers.
The Mighty Ones also debuts Nov. 19.
Peacock will also be releasing new seasons of Cleopatra in Space (Nov. 19), Curious George (Dec. 11), Madagascar: A Little Wild (Dec. 11), and Where's Waldo? (Dec. 11). All of these shows are produced by DreamWorks Animation.
(Peacock and SYFY WIRE are both owned by NBCUniversal)
