#FIRSTLOOK: SHOWCASE ANNOUNCE UPCOMING PROGRAMMING SLATE FOR WINTER 2022/2023

Corus Entertainment’s top 10 specialty network*, Showcase has announced today its winter schedule of new buzzworthy, compelling dramas and returning seasons of fan favourite series, all available to stream live and on demand with STACKTV.

Kicking off Showcase’s winter slate is fish out of water drama series Irreverent premiering on Sunday, January 8 at 9 p.m. ET. Irreverent follows a criminal mediator from Chicago who is forced to flee his life, and everything he knows, and hide out in a small Australian reef community in Far North Queensland, posing as the new church Reverend. “Reverend Mackenzie Boyd” (not his real name) has made a mess so bad, he can never go home, but he’s going to need all his considerable street smarts to pull off posing as clergy – something he doesn’t know the first thing about. If he slips up, he’s dead, and after a lifetime of crime, doing good works isn’t something that comes naturally. But in this small beach town, with no phone or internet, he finds a community filled with people desperate for connection and crying out for a leader. What at first seems like a perfect hiding place from the Chicago mob quickly becomes Mack’s home. But as he reluctantly settles into his new life, the Chicago mob commences the hunt. The only way he’ll be able to stay off their radar will be to maintain the illusion that he is a Reverend. To do that though, Mack will have to appear to care. Trouble for Mack is, after all that pretending, it may just become a little bit real. Produced by Matchbox Pictures, which is a part of Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group, the series stars Colin Donnell, PJ Byrne, Kylie Bracknell, Briallen Clarke, Tegan Stimson, Ed Oxenbould, Wayne Blair, Russell Dykstra, Calen Tassone, and Jason Wilder.

Also joining the lineup is The Calling, a new drama from Emmy Award®-winning executive producer David E. Kelley, Academy Award®-winning director Barry Levinson, and co-composers Hans Zimmer and Steve Mazzaro, which debuts on Monday, January 16 at 9 p.m. ET. The series tells the story of NYPD Detective Avraham Avraham (Jeff Wilbusch), whose belief in mankind is his superpower when it comes to uncovering the truth. Guided by a deep sense of spirituality and religious principles, Avraham is left to question his own humanity when a seemingly routine investigation turns upside down. The Calling also stars Juliana Canfield, Karen Robinson and Michael Mosley. The series is produced by Keshet Studios, the U.S. production arm of global content producers and distributor Keshet International, and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.

The timely and provocative cyber thriller The Undeclared War, which was directed and co-written by seven-time BAFTA winner Peter Kosminksy and stars Academy Award® winner Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg, Adrian Lester, Alex Jennings, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, and Hannah Khalique-Brown, premieres Thursday, January 19 at 9 p.m. ET. Set in 2024, The Undeclared War tracks a leading team of analysts buried in the heart of GCHQ, secretly working to ward off a series of cyber-attacks on the UK in the run up to a general election. When a routine stress test of internet infrastructure goes awry, 21-year-old GCHQ intern Saara Parvin (Khalique-Brown) suddenly finds herself operating on the invisible frontier of high-stakes cyber warfare. In a thrilling cat and mouse game, Saara and the team at GCHQ must try to stay one step ahead and anticipate their opponents’ every hidden move. The clock is ticking as a battle with high stakes and unpredictable enemies takes place entirely online, with very real consequences.  But how do you win a war most of the public don’t know you’re fighting? The series is co-produced by Playground and Universal International Studios, a division of Universal Studio Group.

Returning to the network, critically acclaimed drama series All American is back for Season 5 on Monday, January 2 at 10 p.m. ET, and finds Spencer and his friends thriving as young adults on the cusp of real adulthood. This season brings its fair share of sexy, messy love lives, hard lessons learned on and off the field, fun college drama, and parties galore. But even when life gets difficult for our crew, they will always find a way to rise from the ashes.

DC origin series Pennyworth: The Origin of Batman’s Butler picks up again for Season 3 on Wednesday, January 11 at 9 p.m. ET. The new season of this psychological thriller begins after a five-year time jump: The civil war is over, and a cultural revolution has changed the world for better or worse – ushering in a new age of superheroes and supervillains.

Following the success of Season 1, last Spring’s #1 new specialty drama** Bel-Air will return for Season 2 in 2023. Produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, and Westbrook Studios, Bel-Air imagines the beloved ’90s sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air through a new, dramatic take on Will’s complicated journey from the streets of West Philadelphia to the gated mansions of Bel-Air. The second season of Bel-Air picks up with Will at a crossroads in his life as a new figure comes into his life who challenges what he’s learned in Bel-Air and competes for control of his influence. He juggles this while navigating his home life with the Banks family and trying to rebuild the trust that was broken at the end of last season. We’ll also see Hilary evolve as she becomes more of a boss in her influencer world and how that spills into her relationship with Jazz, as well as highlight the relatable struggles around Viv and Phil balancing marriage and family while trying to forge their own career paths and reconnect to the things that are important to them.

#FIRSTLOOK: DC FANDOME ANNOUNCEMENTS – “WONDER WOMAN 1984”, “SUICIDE SQUAD”, “BLACK ADAM”, “THE BATMAN” MINI-SERIES, “ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE”, “THE FLASH”, “AQUAMAN 2”, “TITANS”, “SHAZAM!” + MORE

While there wasn’t an option for an in-person Comic-Con this year. DC Comics announced in June this year they would be holding their own global virtual convention. DC FANDOME takes place this weekend, with panels replaying for 24 hours. The fun doesn’t end there though – another event is coming Saturday, September 12, 2020. The festivities from the HALL OF HEROES had fans pumped as several exciting things were unveiled about the DC Comics universe’s upcoming release sate.

THE BATMAN – Everyone’s been waiting for it! Here is Robert Pattinson as Matt Reeves’ BATMAN. This is EVERYTHING. The Teaser also gives us a glimpse of The Riddler (Paul Dano) and Catwoman (Zoë Kravitz)! Coming to theatres October 21, 2021.

WONDER WOMAN 1984 – While the Pandemic has pushed back its release to October 2, 2020, fans got to see a first look at Kristen Wiig‘s Cheetah costume in this new Trailer!

SUICIDE SQUAD – Writer/Director James Gunn tells us, “It’s going to be different from any superhero movie ever made”. Check-out this exclusive Sneak Peek and “Roll Call” at the anticipated follow-up to 2016’s SUICIDE SQUAD. In theatres next year, the complete confirmed Cast includes: Starring: Margot Robbie, Idris Elba, Joel Kinnaman, John Cena, Viola Davis, Jai Courtney, Michael Rooker, Flula Borg, David Dastmalchian, Daniela Melchior, Steve Agee, Mayling Ng, Peter Capaldi, Alice Braga, Pete Davidson, Nathan Fillion, Sean Gunn, Storm Reid, Taika Waititi, Joaquín Cosío and Juan Diego Botto.

BLACK ADAM – Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Noah Centineo star in this SHAZAM Spin-off, coming to theatres December 2021.

BATMAN MINI-SERIES – DC Comics Publisher and CCO Jim Lee and award-winning screenwriter John Ridley confirmed plans for a four-issue Batman miniseries scheduled for January 2021, featuring art by Nick Derington. The panel revealed key art for the first issue from LADRÖNN, and Ridley’s series will center on the family of Lucius Fox, confirming rumors that this Batman will likely be a person of color. This launches January 2021.

MILESTONE COMICS – working on the philosophy that Comic Artists of visible minority backgrounds were under-represented. Shutting down in 1997, it was announced today at DC Fandome that they will be returning to publishing once again starting with a Static Shock Digital Comic Series to surface February 2021, followed by an original Static Shock original graphic novel and the return of Milestone heroes Icon & Rocket. From September 2020 onwards, select content from their catalogue will be re-mastered and re-issued.

ZACK SNYDER’S JUSTICE LEAGUE – Coming to HBOMax in 2021 is the long-awaited Director’s Cut of JUSTICE LEAGUE, arriving in four hour-long segments. Fans have demanded it and they soon will get it at long last. Check-out this new official tease!

THE FLASH (Season 7) – A Teaser Trailer for the seventh-season of THE FLASH has been unveiled. The season premieres January 2021 and will feature a much-hyped cameo by Ezra Miller who stars as The Flash in the upcoming Andy Muschietti Feature based on the character.

THE FLASH – This long-awaited Feature begins filming in January and it’s confirmed both former Batmans Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton will make an appearance in the Film. A new-improved costume for the titular character was unveiled

Miller on today’s Panel gave Muschietti a heart attack teasing a reveal, before it being ultimately a “Rick-Roll“!

TITANS (Season 3) – Toronto-filmed TITANS has been confirmed for a third season. New and returning characters to be introduced include: Red Hood (played by series star Curran Walters), Barbara Gordon (to be cast) and Dr. Jonathan Crane (to be cast) confirmed to appear in the season.

AQUAMAN 2 – While it won’t be out till December 2022, Director James Wan did say at today’s panel, “I think the second one is a little bit more serious, a little bit more relevant in the world we are living in today. I think that’s where it wants to go”.

SHAZAM! – At today’s panel for this Toronto-made Blockbuster, it was revealed its upcoming Sequel will be called SHAZAM!: FURY OF THE GODS! Not much got revealed about the actual Movie, but they definitely kept things entertaining going off-topic and they confused fans further with cameo by Sinbad! This Sequel will be released November 4, 2022. David F. Sandberg returns as Director.

More here on events. Stay tuned for more to come September 12, 2020!

(Photo/video credit: DC Comics/Warner Bros.)

#FIRSTLOOK: “SUPERMAN”-“BATMAN” MOVIE COMING FROM WARNER BROS. & LEGENDARY PICTURES

Perhaps the biggest news to come out of the San Diego Comic-Con this year was the announcement of a Batman-Superman Movie to come.  The iconic logos for both Superheroes were super-imposed upon one another at the end of the Warner Bros.-Legendary Pictures Panel yesterday evening where Man of Steel Director Zack Snyder confirmed that a Follow-up to that Blockbuster is being developed. And Fans went crazy.

As per Deadline, it is said that Christian Bale is highly unlikely will return for this Collaboration which is set to do battle with amalgamated Superhero Franchise, The Avengers. The Batman-Superman Movie would hit theatres in 2015 with Synder directing and David S. Goyer penning the Screenplay.

UPDATE:  Teen Wolf Star Tyler Hoechlin is said to be in the running for the role of Batman.  See Snaps of him here in Toronto just last month for the MuchMusic Video Awards!

 

(Photo credit: DC Comics)