THE FANDOM ZONE 068: "The Road Before Us" is Up!

"That man in there is praying for a miracle that you and I know is never going to come, because no one's fucking listening.  If God is out there, he's laughing at you."

– Kyle Barnes to Reverend Anderson, Outcast: "The Road Before Us"

You guessed it, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Preacher 1x07 -- "He Gone"

Outcast 1x05 -- "The Road Before Us"

Wynonna Earp 1x05 -- "Diggin' Up Bones"

This time, we talk about things like fun with a monster finger puppet, Karen and her especially curly hair, Jesse and Tulip until the end of the world, teasing Jody for Preacher Season 2, Jesse's doucheometer reaching stratospheric heights, wondering if Eugene/Arseface actually deserved being sent to hell, our disagreement on Jesse's mullet and white jeans from the comics, Odin Quincannon interpreting The Word his own way, finally getting a shoutout to Jesse's favorite movie star, advising Outcast viewers that there should be a lot of important stuff coming up, Amber calling her mom Alison a bitch, the awkwardness of being about to arrest someone for murder when the murder didn't happen, Sidney and Mildred making out, finally getting another mention of The Merge, Wynonna breaking and entering into a police station, the introduction of the Stone Witch, Waverly having the Dark Side inside her, Wynonna and Doc having sexytime, some more listener feedback from Xub Xerox, this year's Emmy nominations for geek shows, an interesting Preacher finale theory, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone on Google Play Music right HERE, or for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us!  If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well.  In addition, you can Like us on The Fandom Zone Facebook show page, which you can check out HERE.  And yes, we're also on Twitter with our account @FandomZoneCast.

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as we review Episode 6 of Outcast, Episode 6 of Wynonna Earp, and Episode 8 of Preacher, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

GOTHAM Casts Benedict Samuel as The Mad Hatter

Twinkle, twinkle, little bat...How I wonder what you're at...

Deadline has confirmed that the Fox TV series Gotham has cast Benedict Samuel in the role of Jervis Tetch, better known to DC Comics fans as The Mad Hatter.  Samuel will be a series regular in Season 3.

The article describes The Mad Hatter as "a talented hypnotist teetering on the edge of madness.  He arrives in Gotham with an unwavering desire to find his sister, Alice, a young woman who went missing in the city years ago.  It is anyone’s guess just how far down the rabbit hole he’s willing to go in order to find her."

The character was previous hinted last season when Hugo Strange and his assistant Ethel Peabody were talking about his resurrection process as he clutched a copy of Through the Looking Glass and spouted off a quote from Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Samuel, 28, is an Australian actor best known as Owen "The Wolf" on AMC's The Walking Dead, and has appeared on episodes of Childhood's End and Home and Away.  In addition, he's appeared in the films The Duel, The Walk, and Underground: The Julian Assange Story.

Created in 1948 by Bill Finger and Lew Sayre Schwartz, The Mad Hatter first appeared in Batman (vol.1) #49 as a supervillain who attempts to steal a trophy from the Gotham Yacht Club, and begins a crime spree that ends when he is foiled by Batman while he is trying to rob spectators from a high society horseshow.

While the Mad Hatter has no inherent superpowers, he is a brilliant neurotechnician with considerable knowledge on how to dominate and control the human mind, either through hypnosis or direct technological means.  Usually, the Hatter places his mind control devices in the brims of hats, but has been known to utilize other devices as well. More recently, he has been able to directly influence the minds of others at a distance without any apparent equipment.  He is obsessed with hats of all shapes and sizes, as well as the book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, particularly favoring the chapter "A Mad Tea Party."

He was later approached by Catman, and joined the members of the Secret Six to oppose the Secret Society of Super Villains.  The Six recruited him in hopes of a defense against Doctor Psycho's mind control abilities.  When Rag Doll attacked the Secret Six under Dr. Psycho's control, Tetch put on what he called his "thinking cap" and went into a seizure.  After the Six were attacked by the Doom Patrol, the Mad Hatter stepped in and used his mind control abilities to subdue the Doom Patrol singlehandedly, going so far as to almost make Elasti-Girl eat Beast Boy before Scandal stopped him.  The Six commented to themselves afterwards that even they had no idea the Hatter could do this.

Samuel will be the second actor to portray The Mad Hatter in live action, after David Wayne on the '60s series Batman.  The character has also appeared in a number of animated projects, including The Batman/Superman Hour (voiced by Ted Knight), Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, and Superman: The Animated Series (voiced by Roddy McDowall), and Batman: Bad Blood (voiced by Robin Atkin Downes).

Gotham returns to Fox for Season 3 on September 19th at 8:00 p.m. EST.

GAME OF THRONES Leads 2016 Emmy Nominations with 23

Winter finally came...and so did the Emmy noms.

HBO's fantasy drama series Game of Thrones once again leads the pack with a total of 23 nominations for the 2016 Emmy Awards, including acting nominations for Peter Dinklage, Kit Harington, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, and Maisie Williams.

Fan-favorite Tatiana Maslany finally received a long-overdue nomination for BBC America's Orphan Black, although that was the show's sole nomination.  Netflix's Daredevil and Jessica Jones scored two nominations each, although Jessica Jones stars Krysten Ritter and David Tennant were sadly overlooked.

FX's American Horror Story earned 8 nominations, while USA's Mr. Robot, Showtime's Penny Dreadful, and BBC's Sherlock each earned 6 nominations.

Other recognized geek-favorite shows include Fox's Gotham, The Simpsons and Family Guy, FX's Archer, Comedy Central's South Park, AMC's The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead, and NBC's Hannibal.  

You can read the full list of nominations HERE, but this is the breakdown for the shows listed above...

GAME OF THRONES (23 Nominations)

Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series -- Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series -- Kit Harington as Jon Snow
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series -- Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series -- Emilia Clarke as Danerys Targaryen
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series -- Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series -- Max von Sydow as The Three-Eyed Raven
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series -- David Benioff and D.B. Weiss -- "Battle of the Bastards"
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series -- Jack Bender -- "The Door"
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series -- Miguel Sapochnik -- "Battle of the Bastards"
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series -- "The Door"
Outstanding Special Visual Effects -- "Battle of the Bastards"
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Fantasy Program (One Hour or More) -- "Blood of My Blood, The Broken Man, No One"
Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series -- "Home"
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series -- "The Door"
Outstanding Interactive Program
Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) -- "Battle of the Bastards"
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or a Special -- "The Door"
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series -- "Oathbreaker"
Outstanding Single-Camera Picture Editing for a Drama Series -- "Battle of the Bastards"
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) -- "Battle of the Bastards"
Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Costumes for a Period/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Movie -- "The Winds of Winter"

AMERICAN HORROR STORY: HOTEL (8 Nominations)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie -- Sarah Paulson as Hypodermic Sally/Billie Dean Howard
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie -- Kathy Bates as Iris
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special -- "Checking In"
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Limited Series or Movie
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Fantasy Program (One Hour or More)
Outstanding Makeup for a Limited Series or Movie (Non-Prosthetic)
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or a Special
Outstanding Costumes for a Contemporary Series, Limited Series or Movie -- "Chutes and Ladders"

MR. ROBOT (6 Nominations)

Outstanding Drama Series
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series -- Rami Malek as Elliot
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series -- Sam Esmail -- "eps1.0_ hellofriend. mov"
Outstanding Music Composition for a Series -- Mac Quayle -- "eps1.0_ hellofriend. mov"
Outstanding Casting for a Drama Series
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One Hour) -- "eps1.5_br4ve-trave1er.asf"

PENNY DREADFUL (6 Nominations)

Outstanding Music Composition for a Series -- Abel Korzeniowski -- "And They Were Enemies"
Outstanding Special Visual Effects -- "And They Were Enemies"
Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Fantasy Program (One Hour or More) -- "Fresh Hell, Evil Spirits in Heavenly Places, And Hell Itself My Only Foe"
Outstanding Hairstyling for a Single-Camera Series -- "Glorious Horrors"
Outstanding Makeup for a Single-Camera Series (Non-Prosthetic) -- "Glorious Horrors"
Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or a Special -- "And Hell Itself My Only Foe)

SHERLOCK (6 Nominations)

Outstanding Television Movie -- "The Abominable Bride"
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie - Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock Holmes -- "The Abominable Bride"
Outstanding Cinematography for a Limited Series or Movie -- "The Abominable Bride"
Outstanding Sound Editing for a Limited Series, Movie or Special -- "The Abominable Bride"
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Limited Series or Movie -- "The Abominable Bride"
Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role -- "The Abominable Bride"

GOTHAM (3 Nominations)

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series -- "Azrael"
Outstanding Cinematography for a Single-Camera Series -- "Azrael"
Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie

SOUTH PARK (3 Nominations)

Outstanding Animated Program -- "You're Not Yelping"
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance -- Matt Stone as Craig Tucker, Tweek, and Thomas Tucker -- "Tweek x Craig"
Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance -- Trey Parker as Eric Cartman and PC Principal -- "Stunning and Brave"

DAREDEVIL (2 Nominations)

Outstanding Sound Editing for a Series -- "New York's Finest"
Outstanding Stunt Coordination for a Drama Series, Limited Series or Movie

FEAR THE WALKING DEAD (2 Nominations)

Outstanding Short Form Comedy or Drama Series -- "Flight 462"
Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series -- Michelle Ang -- "Flight 462"

JESSICA JONES (2 Nominations)

Outstanding Main Title Design
Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music -- Sean P. Callery

THE SIMPSONS (2 Nominations)

Outstanding Animated Program -- "Halloween of Horror"
Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation -- "Halloween of Horror"

THE WALKING DEAD (2 Nominations)

Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup for a Series, Limited Series, Movie or a Special -- "No Way Out"
Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role -- "No Way Out"

ARCHER (1 Nomination)

Outstanding Animated Program -- "The Figgis Agency"

FAMILY GUY (1 Nomination)

Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance -- Seth MacFarlane as Peter Griffin, Stewie Griffin, Brian Griffin, Glenn Quagmire, Dr. Hartman, Tom Tucker, Mr. Spacely -- "Pilling Them Softly"

HANNIBAL (1 Nomination)

Outstanding Special Visual Effects in a Supporting Role -- "Primavera"

ORPHAN BLACK (1 Nomination)

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series -- Tatiana Maslany as Sarah, Alison, Cosima, Helena, Rachel, M.K., and Krystal



The 68th Primetime Emmy Awards is scheduled to air Sunday, September 18th on ABC.

SUPERGIRL Casts Maggie Sawyer & Snapper Carr

Supergirl's Season 2 cast is coming together.

The Hollywood Reporter revealed that the new-to-CW series Supergirl has cast Floriana Lima in the role of DC Comics character Maggie Sawyer.

According to the article, Maggie is described as "a detective for the National City Police Department who takes a special interest in the cases involving aliens."

Lima is probably best known as Rosa "Ro" Quintero on the TV series Mob Doctor, and has appeared in episodes of The Family, Allegiance, Psych, Hawaii Five-O, House M.D., Ghost Whisperer, How I Met Your Mother, and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Created in 1987 by John Byrne, Maggie Sawyer first appeared in Superman (vol.2) #4 as the head of the Metropolis Special Crimes Unit, a special branch of the Metropolis police force that handles superpowered menaces when Superman is unavailable.  Maggie mostly replaced Inspector Henderson from the previous comics as Superman's main police contact.  Later stories revealed that she originally came from Star City, and was married to another police officer until she realized she was a lesbian.  The two had one daughter named Jamie.

Maggie later transferred to Gotham City's police force as the head of the Major Crimes Unit, and was a significant character in the comic Gotham Central.  After the DC Universe was relaunched with The New 52 continuity, Maggie appeared as a supporting character in the new Batwoman series launched in 2011.  In that series, she has begun dating Kate Kane, whose secret activities as Batwoman complicated their relationship.  They had first met when Maggie, as a Metropolis police officer, arrived in Gotham as backup support for an arriving hurricane.  Kane later revealed her identity as Batwoman by proposing to her in costume in Batwoman #17.  The recent DC Rebirth relaunch revealed that Maggie has transferred back to Metropolis.

In addition, Entertainment Weekly reported that Ian Gomez has been cast as Snapper Carr, who is described as "a headstrong, sharp-witted newsman, hired by Cat Grant (Calista Flockhart) to be the editor-in-chief of CatCo Magazine.  Snapper’s commitment to hard-hitting journalism pushes CatCo reporters to dig deeper in the pursuit of excellence.  He’s a man who tells people what he thinks of them, and his no-holds barred approach pushes Kara (Melissa Benoist) in unexpected ways."

Gomez, 51, is probably best known as Andy Torres on Cougar Town and has appeared in the two My Big Fat Greek Wedding movies.  He's also appeared on episodes of Drop Dead Diva, Touch, Grey's Anatomy, Reaper, Heroes, Lost, Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Norm Show, Felicity, Murphy Brown, and Married...with Children.

Created in 1960 by Gardner Fox and Mike Sekowsky, Lucas "Snapper" Carr first appeared in The Brave and the Bold (vol.1) #28 as a teenager who helps the Justice League of America face the threat of Starro, a giant alien starfish with mind-control powers. Snapper, who was spreading lime on his family's lawn, was unaffected by Starro when the alien took mental control of the population of Happy Harbor, Rhode Island.  Members of the Justice League realized that Starro could be incapacitated using lime, and the alien was defeated.

The character's origin was later reworked in the maxi-series JLA: Year One, where an alien race known as the Appellaxians conspired with a new criminal organization, Locus, to take over Earth.  Snapper's uncle, Simon Carr, was the contact person for an ultra-wealthy individual (later revealed to be Oliver Queen) who wished to financially support the Justice League in its mission.  Simon introduced the League to college student and genius inventor Ted Kord (who is also the superhero Blue Beetle), who provided them with some technology, and to his nephew, Snapper.  Snapper played a critical role in alerting the League to the Appellaxian attack on Earth.  He deduced that his uncle had been possessed by the Appellaxian leader, and had the League defeat Simon and then free him from alien control.

The character occasionally appeared in comics featuring the Justice League from 1969 to 1989, when the Invasion! limited series gave him the ability to teleport whenever he snapped his fingers.  He was associated with a new superhero team, The Blasters, in various comics until 1993, when he lost his powers and became a main character in the series Hourman.  After the cancellation of Hourman, he became a main character in Young Justice, and then he became associated with the governmental organization Checkmate, a role revealed when the character played a small but important role in the limited series 52 Aftermath: The Four Horsemen.

Supergirl will return on The CW for Season 2 on October 10th, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

THE FANDOM ZONE 067: "Sundowner" is Up!

"So you're saying this Genesis is some sort of...angel/demon...baby?"
"If by baby you mean the most powerful entity ever known, the singular force that could shift the balance of power, and threaten all of creation, then yeah, it's a baby."

– Jesse Custer and DeBlanc, Preacher: "Sundowner"

That's right, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Preacher 1x06 -- "Sundowner"

Wynonna Earp 1x04 -- "The Blade"

This time, we talk about things like fun with my Constantine t-shirt, wanting Lynda Carter to be an actual Presidential candidate instead of playing the President on TV, finding The Whedon Connection, the Tarantinoesque motel room fight scene with the Seraphiminator, the Pulp Fiction scene with Vincent & Jules getting hosed down, Eugene/Arseface being really ungrateful for Jesse making everyone in Annville stop hating him, Jesse telling Eugene to literally go to hell, why Cassidy's fixation with Tulip is important, Tulip breaking (and fixing) Emily's daughter's art thing, the Demon Barber of Purgatory, how Outcast could crossing over with Wynonna Earp, Karen calling Doc Holliday the Michael J. Fox movie Doc Hollywood, Wyatt Earp finally showing up, rapid healing throat wounds, some comics on TV news, some more listener feedback from Xub Xerox, why it matters for podcasts discussing comic book TV shows to know something about comics, and more!

You can now check out episodes of The Fandom Zone on Google Play Music right HERE, or for those of you who use iTunes, we're already available HERE, so please subscribe and rate us!  If direct download MP3s are more your thing, you can find those HERE as well.  In addition, you can Like us on The Fandom Zone Facebook show page, which you can check out HERE.  And yes, we're also on Twitter with our account @FandomZoneCast.

And if that isn't enough for you, you can also check us out on YouTube, Libsyn, Soundcloud, Sticher, and the official Southgate Media Group website!  Oh, and if you're interested in an officially official Fandom Zone Podcast t-shirt that all the cool kids are wearing, you can get those on TeePublic HERE as well!  Feel free to post a picture on our Facebook page of you or some other cool person you know wearing the shirt!

Be sure to come back next week, as we review Episode 5 of Outcast, Episode 5 of Wynonna Earp, and Episode 7 of Preacher, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

Fox Gives Put Pilot Commitment for Marvel X-MEN-Based Series

As an example of national unity, Marvel and Fox are actually working together on an X-Men TV series.

Variety has revealed that Fox has made a put pilot commitment for a new action-adventure series based on Marvel Comics' X-Men.  According to the article, the untitled series, from writer and Burn Notice creator Matt Nix, "will focus on two ordinary parents who discover their children possess mutant powers.  Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive."

A put pilot is a TV pilot that the network has agreed to air either as a special or series. If the network doesn't air the pilot episode, the network will owe substantial monetary penalties to the studio.  Generally, this guarantees that the pilot will be picked up by the network.

20th Century Fox Television and Marvel Television will co-produce the series with 20th handling physical production.  Nix will serve as executive producer along with Bryan Singer, Lauren Shuler Donner, Simon Kinberg, Marvel’s Jeph Loeb and Jim Chory.

"Developing a Marvel property has been a top priority for the network — and we are so pleased with how Matt Nix has led us into this thrilling universe," said David Madden, president of entertainment for Fox Broadcasting Company.  "There’s comic book adventure, emotional and complicated relationships and a rich, existing mythology from which to draw. With the brilliant production crew behind this project, it has all the makings of a big, fun and exciting new series."

"Working with Marvel on a television series for Fox has been a professional dream for our head of development, Michael Thorn, and all of us at the studio," remarked Jonathan Davis, president of creative affairs at 20th Century Fox Television.  "Matt, Lauren, Bryan, Simon, Jeph and Jim are a powerhouse team of creative artists, and we can’t wait to get started on what will easily be one of this development season’s most exciting new projects."

Loeb, Marvel’s head of television, added "Marvel Television is thrilled to be co-producing with 20th Century Fox Television on our first project.  Matt’s a huge fan of X-Men and his take on X-Men, with its rich characters and high-stakes adventure, is exactly the show we want on Fox.  It’s a great team of creative producers who will be making something entirely unique."

In October of 2015, Fox was reportedly working on Hellfire, a series based around X-Men villains The Hellfire Club.  However, Variety claims that the project is no longer moving forward.

Another X-Men-based series, Legion, has reached the pilot stage at FX.

THE FLASH Reveals Official Pics of Keiynan Lonsdale as Kid Flash

Yeah, you knew this was coming.

The CW series The Flash has officially released pictures of Keiynan Lonsdale, who plays Wally West, finally suited up as the DC Comics superhero Kid Flash.  Lonsdale will make his debut as Kid Flash in the Season 3 premiere, "Flashpoint."

And here are the full photos...

In the Season 2 episode "Rupture," Wally West and Jesse Wells were caught in a blast of Speed Force energy from a recreation of the particle accelerator explosion that helped give Barry Allen his powers as The Flash.  Both did not show any signs of super-speed by the end of the Season 2 finale "The Race of His Life," but this may change in Season 3.

Something else to consider is that Barry altered the timeline once again in the Season 2 finale, by saving his mother Nora Allen from being murdered by the Reverse-Flash. Because the 2011 DC Comics storyline Flashpoint explored an alternate timeline where Nora Allen's murder was prevented, it seems Wally as Kid Flash may be one of the significant timeline changes.

The Flash returns to The CW for Season 3 on October 4, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST.

THE FLASH Movie Considering Kiersey Clemons as Iris West

Barry Allen may be closer to meeting Iris West for the first time all over again.

Variety revealed yesterday that Rick Famuyiwa, new director of The Flash film adaptation for the DC Extended Universe, is seriously considering Kiersey Clemons for the film's female lead, likely to be Barry Allen's comic book love interest, Iris West.

Clemons, 22, appeared as Diggy in the 2015 film Dope, which was directed by Famuyiwa. She also recently appeared in the movie Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising, and has been in episodes of the TV series Extant, New Girl, Eye Candy, Transparent, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, and Austin & Ally.

The Flash recently replaced Seth Grahame-Smith with Famuyiwa as director, after reported "creative differences" even though the studio is keeping Smith's most recent draft of the script from a treatment by Chris Miller and Phil Lord.  Ezra Miller will reprise his role of Barry Allen, following brief cameos in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice earlier this year.

Created in 1956 by Robert Kanigher and Carmine Infantino, Iris West first appeared in Showcase #4 as a reporter for Picture News, based in Central City, and the girlfriend of Barry Allen.  Unaware of his secret identity as The Flash, Iris often picked on Barry for frequently being late.  Eventually, she learned not only that Barry was the Scarlet Speedster, but that her nephew, Wally West, was Kid Flash.  After she married Barry, she discovered her husband's secret on their wedding night when Barry talked in his sleep.  During this time, the couple discovered that Iris was born in the 30th Century (circa 2945 AD), and had been sent back to the present shortly before "Earth-East" attacked "Earth-West," when Central City was a self-contained city.

After years as a prominent presence in the Flash's life and Central City, she was killed by Professor Zoom, the Reverse-Flash, during a costume party.  Zoom vibrated his hand into her head, solidifying it just enough to kill her.  Years later, Barry killed Zoom while trying to prevent him from murdering his new fiancée, Fiona Webb.  Unknown to Barry, however, Iris' biological parents, the Russells (with the help of a future Flash, John Fox), sent the then-infant Iris to the past, where she was adopted by Ira West, her "death" caused a paradox that was resolved after the Russells placed her consciousness into a new body.  Barry was reunited with Iris in her time, and they were able to spend a month together before Barry returned to the past and died during the Crisis on Infinite Earths. During their brief time together, though, they were able to conceive the Tornado Twins, Don and Dawn Allen.

In the current New 52 continuity, Iris is not married to Barry, but they still know each other because of their respective occupations.  Iris showed a romantic attraction to Barry and later issues confirmed that she is in love with Barry.  Barry does not yet reciprocate Iris's affections, though he hints at it when he's forced to take on the role of the Black Racer and goes to Iris for help.

If Clemons is cast as Iris West, she will be the third actress to portray the character in live-action, after Paula Marshall in the pilot for the 1990-91 Flash television series for CBS, and Candice Patton on the current Flash television series for The CW that began in 2014. The character has also appeared in a number of DC Comics animated projects, including Young Justice (voiced by Nicole Dubuc), Justice League: The New Frontier (voiced by Vicki Lewis), and Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox (voiced by Jennifer Hale).

The Flash is currently scheduled to be released in theaters on March 16, 2018.

STAR TREK BEYOND Reveals Hikaru Sulu is Gay (No Big Deal)

It's taken 50 years, but Mr. Sulu is finally out.  And yes, it's no big deal.

The Australian Herald Sun has confirmed that the Star Trek franchise finally has an openly gay character in the form of Enterprise helmsman Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu.  The article states that in the upcoming Justin Lin film Star Trek Beyond, Sulu (played by actor John Cho) will be shown "as the loving father of a daughter with a same sex partner.  And in typical trailblazing Trek fashion — it’s just not a big deal."

During a visit to Sydney to promote the movie, Cho stated that the decision by writer Simon Pegg and Lin to make Sulu gay was a tribute to original Sulu actor George Takei, who played the character on the first Star Trek television series, and was a sign of what he hoped were changing times.

Takei publicly came out as gay in 2005, after decades of hiding his sexuality so that he could continue working in Hollywood.  Star Trek has received considerable criticism over the years for not featuring an LGBTQ main character, even though it's set in the future.  The closest Star Trek ever came was Jadzia Dax on Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, a character who was the host for a symbiont named Dax, whose previous host was male.

"I liked the approach," said Cho, "which was not to make a big thing out it, which is where I hope we are going as a species, to not politicize one’s personal orientations."

Created in 1966 by Gene Roddenberry, Hikaru Sulu will be born on June 24, 2230 in San Francisco, and is of Japanese heritage.  He was shown as the USS Enterprise's staff physicist in the second Star Trek pilot episode, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," but served as third officer and senior helmsman under Captain James T. Kirk throughout the rest of the series, during which he held the rank of lieutenant.

Throughout the series, Sulu is shown having many interests and hobbies, including gymnastics, botany, fencing, and ancient weaponry.  In the episode "The Naked Time," Spock observes that Sulu "is at heart a swashbuckler out of the 18th century."  The character is promoted to lieutenant commander some time before Star Trek: The Motion Picture, and to full commander by the time of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.  During the first five Star Trek movies, he serves as helmsman aboard both the USS Enterprise and USS Enterprise-A.  He is promoted to captain and given command of the USS Excelsior three years before the events of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

Star Trek Generations introduces Hikaru's daughter, Demora Sulu (Jacqueline Kim), a Starfleet ensign serving aboard the USS Enterprise-B under the command of Captain John Harriman in 2293.

Star Trek Beyond is scheduled to arrive in theaters on July 22, 2016.

THE FANDOM ZONE 066: "South Will Rise Again" is Up!

"All right, well, go on then.  Ask me."
"Fangs?"
"No."
"Turn into a bat?"
"No."
"Sleep in a coffin?"
"Not if I can help it."
"Afraid of the cross?"
"It's a 2,000 year old symbol of hypocrisy, slavery and oppression, but it won't burn my face off."

– Proinsias Cassidy and Tulip O'Hare, Preacher: "South Will Rise Again"

That's right, Karen Lindsay and I are back with another new episode of The Fandom Zone Podcast!  

This week's reviews of comics on television include:

Preacher 1x05 -- "South Will Rise Again"

Outcast 1x04: "A Wrath Unseen"

Wynonna Earp 1x03 -- "Leavin' On Your Mind"

This time, we talk about things like fun with Heat Wave, being nominated for the Parsec Awards, Preacher being renewed Season 2, Fiore and DeBlanc being Pinky and the Brain, the Saint of Killers as the Cardinal of Killers, the Ratwater saloon not doing well with the Yelp ratings, horses not doing well on popular TV drama shows, Tulip walking in on Emily while she's peeing on the toilet, waiting for Fiore and DeBlanc to answer the bloody phone already, Eugene's dad Sheriff Root being a total douchebag, riffing on Johnny Dangerously, Mark drinking the beer he bought for Kyle, Mark beating the crap out of Donny, Megan beating the crap out of glassware, Old Bilbo freaking out Frodo in The Fellowship of the Ring, Hummel figurines being evil, Texas looking very Vancouvery, Champ skedaddling like Fred Flintstone, Doc Holliday admitting that he's Doc Holliday, some Fandom Zone fanmail feedback, explaining why we haven't gotten a new Justina review, and more!

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Be sure to come back next week, as we review Episode 5 of Outcast, Episode 4 of Wynonna Earp, and Episode 6 of Preacher, right here on The Fandom Zone Podcast!

ARROW's Stephen Amell Addresses Season 5 & Olicity's Future

Arrow's plan for Season 5?  Going back to Season 1.

TVLine has news of the CW series Arrow from yesterday's Heroes & Villains FanFest at the Meadowlands Exposition Center in Secaucus, New Jersey, where star Stephen Amell addressed the controversial "Olicity" relationship between his character Green Arrow/Oliver Queen and Overwatch/Felicity Smoak (played by Emily Bett Rickards).

Over the last two seasons under showrunners Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle, Arrow's audience has become noticeably divided over the show's central romance, many of whom have complained that the relationship has overwhelmed other aspects of the once-popular show. An escalating online feud developed between Olicity "shippers" and fans who either wanted the romantic elements of the show played down, or who supported a relationship between Oliver and Laurel Lance because Black Canary was Oliver's longtime love interest in the comics.

Frustration with both Olicity and other elements of the show (including last year's depicition of Ra's al Ghul and the continued use of pointless flashbacks that have little relevance to the present-day stories) have resulted in growing negativity toward the series, especially on platforms like Twitter and Reddit, with hashtags like #Nolicity being a good example.

"I was chatting with a couple of fans earlier and they were saying there hasn’t been a lot of positivity and reassuring notions when it comes to Oliver and Felicity’s relationship," said Amell.  "I think that it’s important to remember that relationships on the show don’t have to be only defined by romance.  Oliver and Felicity could have a wonderful, fulfilling, dynamic relationship and not be together, right?"

Olicity shippers in the crowd replied with boos, with Amell responding, "That wasn’t a question, okay?  That’s how the world works!  So we will see where they are this year.  I hope that they’re both in a happy positive place.  Whether that means they’re together or not remains to be seen."

Amell also teased Season 5 going back to the basics in Season 1, remarking "the villain that we are introducing is a direct result of things that Oliver has done in Star City [and] calls back to a lot of things that happened in the first season of the show.  It really grounds the show and really focuses on its core value, which is the battle to save Star City.  The first two episodes [of Season 5] refocuses us on what the core mission of the show should be, and that to me is very exciting.  Plus? Russia."

So yes, there will be more pointless flashbacks.  Just now in Russia.

One welcome change for Season 5 will be John Diggle's "Diggneto" helmet that he uses in the field as Spartan, which has received a good deal of online criticism for its resemblance to the helmet used by Marvel supervillain Magneto and the lack of periphreal vision that one would really prefer when fighting crime.  Actor David Ramsey teased that Spartan's helmet will be getting a "Cisco-created" upgrade, referring to Cisco Ramon, the tech genius on the CW's second DC superhero series The Flash.

Willa Holland, who plays Speedy/Thea Queen, remarked that "I hope that Thea in Season 5 is going to be focusing a lot more on herself…and learning a little bit more about what’s going on inside of her now that she has lost the bloodlust.  She needs to take some yoga classes and meditate real hard, maybe smudge [with sage] the apartment she lives in."

Ramsay also discussed the upcoming four-series crossover between Arrow, The Flash, Legends of Tomorrow and Supergirl, saying "I wanna see Diggle’s expression when he sees Supergirl flying across the horizon.  I want to know what that is."   After his amazement at seeing The Flash use his super-speed, Ramsay added that Diggle is "going to pee on himself right there" when he encounters Supergirl.

Arrow returns to The CW for Season 5 on October 5, 2016.

THE FLASH Casts Tom Felton as Julian Dorn

Let's just hope that magical curses aren't a part of the new timeline.

TVLine has revealed that the CW series The Flash has cast Tom Felton in the role of Julian Dorn, a brand-new character that will be a series regular for Season 3.  Dorn is expected to appear early in the season.

According to the article, Julian Dorn is "a fellow CSI at the Central City Police Department who suspects there’s more to Barry Allen than just his good guy reputation."

Felton, 28, is best known as Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter film series.  In addition, he's also appeared in the movies Risen, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Get Him to the Greek, Anna and the King, and The Borrowers.

Season 3 will explore the DC Comics event storyline Flashpoint, which was confirmed by star Grant Gustin posting on Twitter "We're definitely doing this FP [Flashpoint] thing our own way.  I've read Flashpoint, I've seen the amazing animated film. This will be its own thing."

In the five-issues limited series by Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert, Flashpoint explores an altered DC Universe in which only Barry Allen seems to be aware of significant differences between the regular timeline and the altered one, including Captain Cold as Central City's greatest hero, the Justice League not existing, and a Thomas Wayne version of Batman who spends his days "running Wayne Casinos."

The Flash returns to The CW for Season 3 on October 4, 2016 at 8:00 p.m. EST.