Let’s talk sci-fi news this week! I’ve got lots to unload for you – Dr. Strange, Black Widow, Ghost Busters Afterlife, GODZILLA VS. KONG, Ultraman, Matrix: Resurrections!, Indiana Jones 5, Cloverfield 2 (?), Buck Rogers, Resident Alien, Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous, Batwoman & so much more!
Prefer to read instead of listening? Here ya go!
What’s up, sci-fi fans?! It’s Seth and I’m back for another awesome episode of the I Heart Sci-Fi podcast. It’s episode 12 – yes we’ve made it to a dozen episodes chock full of the latest sci-fi news, amazing indie book reviews, and things you didn’t know about some of the best sci-fi classics.
Today we’re going to talk about a ton of sci-fi news. Shall we jump into it?
Sci-Fi Movie News
Dude, my RSS feed is pumping out news on overdrive lately, and I can barely keep up with it! Where to start…ok so we’re not going to see Marvel’s Black Widow movie any time soon (nor many others). Here’s the complete list. I’m going to create a separate page on iheartscifi.com to start tracking movie release dates. Stay tuned!
- Black Widow is still tentatively scheduled for May 7th this year, but expect that to change soon.
- Ghostbusters Afterlife was scheduled for June and now it’s November 11th
- Speaking of GB – I heard a rumor that Rick Moranis is in the new movie…
- Morbius was set to premiere this October and is set back to January next year
- Uncharted went from June this year to February next year
- A Quiet Place Part II moves from April to September 17th
- Avatar 2 delayed one year to December 16, 2022
- The Batman moved again to March 2022
- Black Adam is completely off the schedule now
- Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness now set for March 2022
- Dungeons & Dragons pushed to May 2022
- Dune set for October 1st this year
- The Eternals pushed to November 2021
- The Flash pushed to November 2022
- Jurassic World: Dominion moved to June 2022
- The Matrix 4 moved UP to December 22, 2021!
- Minecraft now off the schedule
- Mission: Impossible 7 moved to November 19th
- Mission: Impossible 8 moved to November 4th next year
- Thor: Love and Thunder moved to February 2022
- Venom: Let There Be Carnage moved to June 25, 2021
What a bummer, but I guess we’re all used to it now, right? At least Warner Bros figured out how to handle movie releases during the pandemic, by premiering their movies theatrically and on HBO Max. By the way, HBO Max is my favorite streaming service. If you’re a sci-fi fan, I promise you it’s the best service to have.
Now for better news: have you seen the Godzilla vs. Kong movie trailer? If not, head to iheartscifi.com and check it out. It looks so damn good. (source: https://iheartscifi.com/godzilla-vs-kong-movie-trailer/)
In DC news (*cough*who cares?), apparently, Aquaman 3 is already in the works with Jason Momoa. It’s kind of odd to hear, considering the second movie isn’t even close to hitting the big screen yet. Look, I’m not a huge fan of the DCEU. In fact, the only movies I have enjoyed, Wonder Woman and Wonder Woman 1984, constantly get bashed (mostly by men) when WW1984 broke records. Like, a lot of records. I’m not sure if you heard this, but Nielsen ratings just confirmed WW84 nabbed the number one streamed title during the holiday season. By a lot. HBO Max users spent 2.25 billion minutes watching the movie. That equates to nearly 15 million complete plays of the film. (source: https://wegotthiscovered.com/movies/aquaman-3-reportedly-early-development/)
Let’s talk about Marvel movies. I won’t speak for everyone, but I feel like Marvel’s hey-day has peaked. I haven’t been excited to see a Marvel movie since Infinity War. My interest is certainly waning. I bet I’m not alone. However, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness may give the MCU a boost it so desperately needs. I read it’s possible the Sorceror Supreme will battle not only the Scarlet Witch – yes, Wanda Maximoff of WandaVision – but also an evil version of Captain America. Maybe that’s why I also heard rumors that Chris Evans could come back to the MCU as Captain Hydra. Of course, this rumor stemmed from a piece of fan art, so it’s probably bullshit. Time will tell. (source: https://screenrant.com/captain-america-evans-hydra-doctor-strange-2-art/)
Moving on. There’s a new Ultraman movie coming out in Japan, called Shin Ultraman. I’m not too familiar with Ultraman but I know there’s hype behind this movie. I need to do my homework and find out what I am missing out on. I know, it’s embarrassing not to know about Ultraman as a huge sci-fi geek. Don’t troll me for this. (source: https://io9.gizmodo.com/the-first-shin-ultraman-movie-footage-is-a-modern-blast-1846153812)
I’m not sure if you heard, but Indiana Jones 5 is in the works with Harrison Ford back in the lead role. Director James Marigold sent out a tweet on January 22nd implied a timeline of the 1960s for the newest Indie movie, specifically in New York City during The Velvet Underground’s rise in popularity. For those of you who bleached Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull from your brain, that movie took place in 1957. That setting sounds quite out-of-place for the Indiana Jones I know, but I suppose it can’t be worse than Crystal Skull. Then again, Ford is nearing 80 years old, so you never know. (source: https://www.slashfilm.com/indiana-jones-5-setting/)
The Matrix 4 has an official name now. We’ll refer to it as Matrix: Resurrections! (yes, the exclamation point is included in the title – hopefully, it gets removed…) (source: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/matrix-4-title.html)
Now – this is a big deal. You may want to sit down for this. Are you sitting down? Good. Take a deep breath and exhale slowly to slow your heart rate down. I don’t want you passing out. Here it goes: Cloverfield 2 may actually happen. JJ Abrams’ Bad Robot and Paramount are teaming up to get the movie greenlit. Joe Barton signed up to write the script (who?) and apparently it’ll take an entirely different approach from the first movie’s found-footage look. If the sequel comes to fruition, it’ll be without director Matt Reeves, unfortunately. I realize now I hyped that up more than I should have. My bad. (source: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/cloverfield-2.html)
Let’s move on to series news!
Sci-Fi Series News
Out of all the news I read and heard this week, the one I’m most excited about is George Clooney may play Buck Rogers in Brian K. Vaughan’s upcoming series. It doesn’t get any more classic sci-fi than Buck Rogers. With Clooney coming off the success of The Midnight Sky (despite low ratings on reviews, it was watched by a ton of people), it’s exciting to see him stick with science fiction. (source: https://io9.gizmodo.com/george-clooney-may-play-buck-rogers-in-brian-k-vaughan-1846155496)
Supposedly Marvel is rebooting the Punisher series originally from Netflix but they’re keeping actor Jon Bernthal in the main role. I think that’s a damn good decision. That series was phenomenal on Netflix and he killed it on The Walking Dead. I’m looking forward to it. I also heard Marvel is considering changing the skull emblem the Punisher wears, thanks to the morons who raided the U.S. Capitol on January 6th. Way to go, losers. (source: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/jon-bernthal-punisher-reboot.html)
Resident Alien landed on the SYFY channel last week. I haven’t seen an episode yet but I love Alan Tudyk’s comedy and he was great in Firefly. I need to find a way to stream SYFY. The highly anticipated series opened to rave reviews so far. (source: https://www.syfy.com/syfywire/tv-this-week-resident-alien-lands-on-syfy-john-krasinski-hosts-snl-snowpiercer-more)
Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous is back on Netflix with season 2 and I am excited about that. Although the animation isn’t exactly the kind I prefer, it’s a damn good series. If you’re thinking it’s a children’s show, think again. There are no warm and fuzzy, kumbaya moments. It’s full of chaos, death, destruction, and is no different than the movies. Supposedly Amblin Entertainment told the showrunner, Scott Kreamer, to go for broke. He did. (source: https://www.syfy.com/syfy.com/jurassic-world-camp-cretaceous-season-2-scott-kreamer-interview)
Kate Mulgrew just locked in a new Star Trek show for two seasons in Star Trek: Prodigy. It’ll be great to see Mulgrew back as Janeway, bringing back the Star Trek: Voyager days. I’m glad the former Orange is the New Black star decided to return to the world of sci-fi, albeit in an animated series on Nickelodeon. (source: https://comicbook.com/startrek/news/star-trek-prodigy-season-2-kate-mulgrew-janeway/)
I have concerning news for Batwomanand Javicial Leslie fans. Season 2 of the show isn’t doing well and is apparently on CW’s chopping block if its ratings don’t improve. If you love the show, then start promoting it on social media. Or the end is nigh. Then again, the few episodes that aired so far came out in the same time slot that the NFL championship games took place, so there’s that. Plus, CW continues to get lower viewership in general. That’s too bad since it’s one of my favorite channels. Mostly because I’m a closet Supernatural fan. (source: https://www.giantfreakinrobot.com/ent/batwoman-cancelled.html)
Sci-Fi Book News
I’ve been cranking out the book reading this year, to keep up with my ambitious goal of reading 100 books.
Since last week, I read these:
- Aestus Book 1: The City – no joke, this book was as good as Dune in my ever so humble opinion. Author S.Z. Attwell knocked it out of the park. Check out my review on iheartscifi.com and pick yourself up a copy. Trust me.
- Starshatter – I bought this book on a whim early last year when I experimented with alternative social media platforms. I don’t recall if it was Mastadon or Minds. Odds are it was Mastadon since Minds turned into another alt-right-friendly platform. Either way, it was ‘meh.’ Although it’s sold as a novel, it seems like the author, who goes by the pen name ‘Black Knight’, mashed a bunch of short stories that were loosely based in the same universe, then in the final chapter, makes them all meet up and join forces, sort of like the Guardians of the Galaxy. If they were individual short stories, then I’d have loved them. However, trying to combine them into a novel just didn’t work. And apparently, this was book one of
tensix. I won’t be reading the other nine. - Siren’s Cove – if you listened to last week’s podcast in which I interviewed new science fiction author Sara Judson Brown, then you shouldn’t be surprised to see this book on my list. And let me tell you, this is a damn good time-travel space western book. The story is so interesting and exciting, plus the characters are all so engaging. It’s quite obvious that Sara is a professional writer and not your usual hobbyist indie author. She’ll find her way onto the New York Times bestseller list soon enough – trust me. Grab a copy of Siren’s Cove today. I’ll have a book review post on it very soon!
I’m currently reading an advanced reader copy of author Krista Pimpinella’s soon-to-be-released book Nexus Point. It’s a time travel story quite different from Siren’s Cove. I’m halfway through it and let me tell you – I was sucked right in starting with the prologue. Nexus Point has taken me from the 22nd century to 1912, then to the 17th century, as act two picks up the pace. I’ll be interviewing Krista soon, so stay tuned for that podcast episode!
Oh, and I’m also re-reading Ken Stark’s Stage 3 zombie book. I loved it the first time and didn’t have a chance to read the two follow-up books in the series, Stage 3 Alpha and Stage 3 Bravo. It’s been a while since I read the first book and never got around to writing up a review for it, so I need the refresher.
Amazon Kindle Best Sellers of the Week
A Matt Haig book topped the chart this week and no, it wasn’t The Midnight Library. The author’s 2018 How to Stop Time holds the #1 position this week due to the recently released news that the book will be made into a feature film starring Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch. (buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3r9DZjm)
I found a surprising number of new books on the bestseller list this week, too. Here’s the complete list:
- How to Stop Time by Matt Haig
- The Midnight Library by Matt Haig
- Dawn (The Xenogenesis Trilogy Book 1) by Octavia E. Butler
- To the Center of the Earth by Greig Beck (more of a fantasy retelling of Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne)
- Zone One by Colson Whitehead
- The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood (a perennial on this list)
- Winter World (The Long Winter Trilogy Book 1) by A.G. Riddle (another perennial)
- Dragon Breeder 2 by Dante King (not even science fiction…)
- Berlin Wild: A Novel of World War II by Elly Welt (again, not even science fiction)
- Outcast Starship: The Complete Series by Joshua James and Daniel Young (another perennial)
Amazon Kindle New Indie Books Best Sellers
*caveat: I skip romance and erotica novels masked as sci-fi and any other book miscategorized as sci-fi
#1 in Science Fiction Adventure, Genetic Engineering & Military: The Segonian (Aldebarian Alliance Book 2) by Dianne Duvall
#1 in Science Fiction Alien Invasion: Star Force: Blood on the Stars (Star Force Universe Book 82) by Aer-ki Jyr
#1 in Science Fiction Alternative History: Red, White, and the Blues (Chronos Origins Book 2) by Rysa Walker
#1 in Science Fiction Anthologies & Short Stories: Neo Cyberpunk: The Anthology by Matthew A. Goodwin
#1 in Science Fiction Colonization & Space Exploration: Delphi Challenge (Delphi in Space Book 9) by Bob Blanton
#1 in Science Fiction Cyberpunk: Evil Genius 6: Becoming the Apex Supervillain by Logan Jacobs
#1 in Science Fiction Dystopian: Forsaken World: Redemption: Book 6 by Thomas A. Watson
#1 in Science Fiction First Contact & Hard Science Fiction: Heaven’s River by Dennis E. Taylor
#1 in Science Fiction Galactic Empire & Space Opera: Equilibrium (Scattered Stars: Conviction Book 3) by Glynn Stewart
#1 in Science Fiction Humor: Traders on the Galactic Tunnel Network by E.M. Foner
#1 in Science Fiction LGBTQ+: Persephone Station by Strina Leicht
#1 in Science Fiction Metaphysical and Visionary: USS Hamilton: Broadsides by Mark Wayne McGinnis
#1 in Science Fiction Post-Apocalyptic: The Sheriff 3 by M.R. Forbes
#1 in Science Fiction Steampunk: The Gangster (Magic & Steam Book 2) by C.S. Poe
#1 in Science Fiction Time Travel: Fellow Travellers by Jesse Bethea
