Shazam! Fury of the Gods will be out in theaters in less than two months, but its latest trailer almost kills the hype for David F. Sandberg’s sequel. As fans contemplate the glaring problem that faces Billy Batson’s next outing on the big screens, they also wonder if Dwayne Johnson did the right thing when he refused to cameo in it.
Meanwhile, Doctor Who showrunner Russell T. Davies has confirmed the existence of several new spinoff shows in the Whoniverse, so check out this and more in today’s roundup of news from around the speculative fiction world.
The Last of Us gets renewed for a second season on HBO, surprising literally no one
As the definitive video game adaptation that the two industries have been waiting on for a long time, it was only a matter of time before HBO renewed The Last of Us for a second season. The show has already broken several records for the television network, and though it doesn’t quite soar as high as House of the Dragon, for obvious reasons, it is still a hit of epic proportions, at least so far as the medium reckons such things. We can’t say we envy Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, though, who’ll be going through the most emotionally taxing performance in their professional careers when they come back for The Last of Us Part II.
The internet passes judgment on Shazam! Fury of the Gods, taking Dwayne Johnson’s side for a change
According to the reports, Dwayne Johnson hates David F. Sandberg’s Shazam! universe, so he refused to reprise Black Adam for its sequel. We can understand the reluctance all too well because Shazam and Black Adam are polar opposites in terms of characterization, but did Johnson make the right choice for a reason even unbeknownst to him at the time? With the latest Shazam! Fury of the Gods trailer letting down the DC fandom, a lot of people are now coming to the conclusion that Johnson was right to turn down the cameo opportunity as it would’ve further damaged his prospects as Black Adam.
Then again, I think his solo outing did more than enough damage to that. And since the entire DCU is soon being rebooted by James Gunn, does it even matter at this point?
Doctor Who showrunner says there are an unknown number of spinoffs in the wings
Russell T. Davies wants to make his Doctor Who return, more than a decade in the making, an event worthy of remembrance. Gone are the days when the BBC treated the long-standing sci-fi show as something to fill up the weekend slot. In a new interview, the returning showrunner claimed that he’s planning to introduce several spinoffs to run concurrently with the main show when it returns with Ncuti Gatwa as the Fourteenth Doctor after this year’s 60th-anniversary special.
“I thought the streaming platforms are ready, the spin-offs are ready; I always believed in spin-offs when I was there. I did Torchwood as a spin-off, The Sarah Jane Adventures as a spin-off. Those spin-offs declined when I left, and I can see why,” he said. Well, I think it’s an established fact among Whovians that Davies can do no wrong, so we’re excited to see how the world will once again expand beyond the Doctor’s story.
