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Actor Rahul Kohli (Midnight Mass, The Fall of the House of Usher) sits down with Dan Casey to discuss his not-so-secret obsession: painting miniatures. Kohli talks about getting started with the hobby, Warhammer 40k, Star Wars: Legion and much more on today’s episode of Secret Obsession!
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The post Rahul Kohli’s Secret Obsession is Painting Minis (Warhammer 40K, Star Wars: Legion, & More) appeared first on Nerdist.
New DC Studios co-head James Gunn is making some drastic changes going forward to the on-screen DCU. It shocked everyone to learn that Patty Jenkins Wonder Woman 3 was canceled, and now there are rumors that Gunn is opting for a full-scale reboot. Well, we’ve stated here before just what the DCU plan should be going forward, and how to repair their signature franchises. Namely, Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, Green Lantern, the Justice League, and the Teen Titans.
Having said that, there are other, more offbeat characters in the DC library that are perfect for James Gunn’s approach. Even if he himself doesn’t helm any of them as director, as executive producer they’d probably still have his signature stamp. Gunn has stated his plans for the DCU encompass film, TV, animation, and games. So some of these projects could fill any of those slots. Although we think Gunn’s focus should be on some of DC’s lesser-known IP, we can’t help but reiterate that he needs to start by repairing DC’s World’s Finest duo:
Superman and Batman: World’s Finest
Without a doubt, DC Studios needs a viable Superman and Batman team. Once Gunn and Safran figure out just who the DCU’s Superman and Batman even are, of course. Not adversaries, not enemies, but allies. (Ok, maybe frenemies). Batman v Superman made the two seem like mortal enemies. The Dark Knight was willing to murder the Man of Steel for the flimsiest of reasons. We need something that shows Superman and Batman teaming up to fight an evil that only the two of them combined can defeat. Besides, a good World’s Finest film could be the foundation for a proper Justice League reboot.
New Gods
Director Ava DuVernay and writer Tom King planned a New Gods movie, before Warner Bros. scrapped it last year. But maybe James Gunn is the man who has the vision to revive it. Jack Kirby’s mythological space opera is part Game of Thrones, part Star Wars, and showcases DC’s biggest bad of them all, Darkseid. New Gods was just one part of Jack Kirby’s “Fourth World,” which also contained characters like Mister Miracle and the Forever People, who should be included too. It might actually fit better on TV than film, if we’re being honest. But it deserves a chance somewhere in Gunn’s new DCU.
Booster Gold
Everyone has a soft spot for a lovable loser, and Booster Gold was DC’s version of that concept. In the comics, Booster was a nobody who worked as a janitor in the 25th-century museum. While working there, he stole some time travel machinery, and went back in time to our present. He hoped that some basic future tech would land him a career as a superhero in our primitive world. A world where he’d become rich and famous of course.
These were less than noble motives to embark on a heroic career, to be sure. Booster was readily given to corporate sponsorships and get-rich-quick schemes. Most of these blew up in his face. But he eventually learned to be a true hero worthy of Justice League status. His friendship with Ted Kord, the first Blue Beetle, is one of DC’s most enduring bromances, and could naturally lead us to our next Gunn-produced project.
Justice League International
For their first 25 years, the Justice League was composed of DC’s biggest and brightest heroes. But in the late ‘80s, DC tried a different approach to great success. in 1987, writers Keith Giffen and J. M. DeMatteis created Justice League International, a United Nations-backed team made up of B-list heroes (Like Booster Gold and Blue Beetle) mixed with a few iconic heroes like Batman and Martian Manhunter.
The JLI stories all had a comedic bent, many of which were laugh-out-loud funny. We still think the main Justice League, with DC’s biggest icons, should be a film. But a TV version of the League based on JLI would be perfect for Gunn’s approach. Highlight characters like Booster and Beetle, along with heroes like Fire and Ice, and jerk Green Lantern, Guy Gardner. Heck, we say put Peacemaker on the team while you’re at it. He’s a perfect fit.
Metamorpho, the Element Man
Here’s another trippy Silver Age hero who seems perfect for a Gunn-led DCU. Created in 1965, Rex Mason was an adventurer who was cursed in an ancient Egyptian tomb, as so often happens. Although transformed into a strange-looking creature, Rex gained the power to shapeshift. He could now change himself into any element, or combination of elements. A bizarre character with a truly weird design, despite having his own series in the ‘60s, he mainly showed up on team books in the decades following. But a freaky-looking dude who can transform himself into pretty much anything? That feels like a James Gunn vehicle if ever there was one.
The Legion of Super-Heroes
Debuting in 1958, the Legion of Super-Heroes pre-dates the Justice League and every major Marvel team. For decades, they were one of DC Comics’ biggest selling titles, but have struggled to maintain relevancy since the ‘90s at least. But the concept is as good as it gets. A group of teenagers 1,000 years in the future from different worlds and with different powers form a coalition representing galactic unity, inspired by the legends of Superman, a full millennium prior.
The Legion live up to their name, as they are a team with often at least 25 members at a time. Sure, they often have silly names. Code names like Cosmic Boy, Matter-Eater Lad, and Bouncing Boy, to name a few. but let’s not forget that Gunn made a talking Raccoon and sentient tree household names. He can make the world love someone named “Triplicate Girl.” Legion might work best as a bigger-budget TV show than a movie, but you can’t tell us there’s not pure gold in the concept of Star Trek meets X-Men with a dash of Superman.
The post Projects We’d Love the James Gunn-Run DC Studios to Produce appeared first on Nerdist.
Paramount’s Star Trek: Prodigy is a fantastic animated series that every generation in a household can sit down after dinner and watch together. The series is about a hodge-podge group of enslaved teens who steal an old Starfleet ship and explore the galaxy. Hot on their tail is Captain Janeway (Kate Mulgrew). Captain Janeway is also a part of the stolen ship’s AI as a hologram who serves as the teen’s mentor along the way. Jameela Jamil shines as Ensign Ascencia, a Trill bridge officer who, in a recent episode, reveals a surprising secret that sends the entire show in a fascinating new direction. BGN spoke with Jameela Jamil at a recent Zoom press junket about her compelling new character and being a part of the Star Trek universe.
I read that you’re a huge Star Trek fan. Other than Prodigy, what is your favorite show in the franchise?
It’s always going to be The Next Generation, probably because it was the first one I watched and the one that I watched the most repeats of. And also, because it was my introduction to Data [Brent Spiner]. Data was like the true love of my life, so Next Generation for me.
Not Worf?
I identified with how grumpy Worf [Michael Dorn] was and felt like he got a really bad rap. And as a Brit, I identified with that, but Data was the one I saw so much of myself in data as a kid. And I learned how to understand many things via his character arc in Next Gen.
If you weren’t playing Ensign Ascencia, what other character would you love to dig your teeth into in this world?
To be perfectly honest, I’m thrilled with this character. There’s no character I would rather play. She’s not only one of my favorite characters within the show, but she’s one of my favorite characters, not just in voiceover that I’ve ever played, but that I’ve ever played. I love her so much. I think she’s so interesting. I think her backstory is so complicated, relatable, and sad, and also, she clearly an a*shole. I just love how complex she is. I love when women are given really complex roles that don’t fall into any stereotypes, which I feel like hers doesn’t, and I would die to do a live-action of Ascencia. That would be a true dream of mine. We’ll put that out into the universe.
You’ve got such amazing comic timing, and Ensign Ascencia is a little bit on the serious side. Will we get to see any of your comic timing put to use in future episodes?
There’s a bit of Scar from The Lion King that I’ve put into her so she becomes more playful once she starts to feel comfortable in her villainy. I feel like we start to see more of her playful quite grotesque side, the way that she gratuitously enjoys what she’s doing. It’s very, very unhinged. And so I feel like I get to put a little bit of that into this, but generally, this is quite a dramatic role, which I think is why I would love to explore this character further and take her into other dimensions if possible. I just love playing her.
It’s great that the writers explore such complexity, especially for a children’s show.
It’s also teaching children and anyone who watches it complexity. I think Star Trek has always done a good job of this. For example, to explore why anyone’s this angry, where this anger comes from, and how it’s very rare that the bad guy actually thinks
that they’re the bad guy. She [Asencia] doesn’t think that she’s on the wrong side. She thinks she’s on the right side and that they [Starfleet] are evil and must be punished. Teaching people that there are two sides to any story is important. And it doesn’t mean that she’s right. And it doesn’t excuse any of her behavior. But it is important to understand that nobody’s pain comes from nowhere.
Switching it up a little bit. I recently reviewed the Star Trek Cookbook: Culinary Adventures in the Final Frontier. Which of these recipes would you love to try:
Katterpod noodle bowl from Deep Space 9; Chadre’kab in a lovely eggplant tomato polenta from Voyager; or Ripple Berry ice cream from Deep Space Nine?
Ice cream 100%.
What right now is bringing you the most joy?
The fan responses to this show. It’s really sweet. The age range is so vast, unlike anything I’ve ever done. It’s really exciting to get letters from parents about how they can bring their kids into this world. So I think right now that’s been one of the great joys of the end of this year for me has been interacting with the Star Trek fan base and how welcoming they’ve been to me and how much fun we’ve had together since Comic-Con, when I was able to let my full freak flag fly.
New episodes of Star Trek: Prodigy stream Thursdays on Paramount+ to be released on the Nickelodeon network.