Sci-Fi Roundup for November 24

Compiled by Carl Slaughter. (1) The Joss Whedon Wonder Woman movie that wasn’t (fortunately). ScreenRant reveals “15 Things You Didn’t Know About Joss Whedon’s Canceled Wonder Woman Movie”.

  1. Cobie Smulders was (maybe) going to be Wonder Woman

Whedon ended his post announcing that his involvement with Wonder Woman was over by saying, “Finally and forever: I never had an actress picked out, or even a consistent front-runner. I didn’t have time to waste on casting when I was so busy air-balling on the script.

However, in a post-script, he mentions, facetiously or not, that he was looking at Cobie Smulders for the role. We mention this not because we think it was actually going to shake out that way, but because we think that, jokes aside, that would have been some solid casting. We love Gal Godot’s take, but we would have also loved Smulders’ version.

Whedon eventually directed Smulders in his Avengers movies, so at least that worked out.

(2) Another ScreenRant list: “15 things you completely missed in the Punishe”

  1. Pete Castiglione

If you thought the alias Frank Castle took on to hide his identity sounded familiar, there’s a good reason for that. It’s his family’s given name in the comics.

As immigrants came through Ellis Island in the early 20th century to gain citizenship to the United States, many surnames were changed to be simpler for officials to spell or pronounce. (Ever wondered why there are so many “Smiths” in the U.S.?) The Castiglione family came to the States from Italy, but upon arrival, their name became the simpler Castle.

Of course, the name does pop up in alternate timelines and “What If” comic book stories as well where the family didn’t change their name.

It was also revealed in more recent comics that there are other members of the Castiglione family in the U.S. besides Frank Castle, but they’ve all been living under assumed names. Maybe Frank still has some family out there in the MCU as well.

(3) Discover “15 superpowers you never knew the Punisher had” at ScreenRant.

  1. Invulnerability to the Penance Stare

Ghost Rider has some of the coolest superpowers, both known and unknown. By far his most powerful is the Penance Stare. By making eye contact the Rider can force someone to experience all the pain they’ve ever caused anyone while simultaneously reliving every painful memory they’ve ever had.

The end result is your eyeballs catching fire, insanity, death and, in some special cases, spontaneous combustion. To say the least it is not a pleasant experience. There are only a few in a existence immune to Ghost Rider’s deadly glare, and Frank Castle is one of them.

You would think if anyone was to feel the repercussions of the Penance Stare it would be the Punisher. After all he has brutally killed millions of people in any number of excruciating ways. Remember, the time he shot Wolverine in the face and groin? You just know that had to hurt.

Yet amazingly the Punisher was unaffected when he locked eyes with Ghost Rider. Why? Because he feels no guilt for the suffering he’s caused his victims. That’s badass. Realize for a second that the Penance Stare once brought Galactus to his knees. It didn’t even make the Punisher blink.

(4) Marvel Heroes players demand refund. ScreenRant reports: “Marvel Heroes Players Are Demanding Refunds Since It’s Shutting Down”

Fans of Marvel Heroes are not happy with the announcement of the game’s closure, and have begun to demand refunds for purchases made. Disney confirmed that the free-to-play RPG was being closed down earlier this week, with the company officially planning to shut the game down at the end of December and bringing with it the end of its relationship with developer Gazillion.

(5) 15 trivia facts about the Upside Down world of Stranger Things courtesy of ScreenRant.

  1. Eleven may be the first person to have encountered it

In season 1, we get multiple glimpses of Hawkins Lab’s cruel, torturous methods of training Eleven to cross dimensions and space in order to learn confidential information. However, during one of her sensory deprivation attempts, it isn’t a government entity or foreign message that Eleven comes across, but rather, the Demogorgon itself.

It’s in this expansive, black, void-like space that Eleven first encounters the Demogorgon and presumably the suggestion of the Upside Down with it. Further, she even comes into physical contact with the monster, perhaps establishing a physical link between the two.

Yet, while this is the first sign of the Upside Down’s existence (or creation?) that we are given, we still have no real idea about what this jarring moment suggests. Did the Upside Down exist before this point in time? Did the Demogorgon? Or was Eleven’s interference in the breach somehow responsible for their creation?

(6) ScreenRant fills in the blanks — “Star Wars: 15 Things You Never Knew Happened Between Episodes 3 And 4”.

  1. Han Solo Marries… someone who isn’t Leia

One of the most surprising moments in the Star Wars comics set after A New Hope was when a female smuggler showed up claiming to be the wife of Han Solo. Perhaps Leia wasn’t always the woman for him…

The backstory for this goes back to Han’s early days as a smuggler, long before that fateful cantina meeting in Mos Eisley. A crime lord had become known for double-crossing spice smugglers, and a gang of such smugglers devised a plan to get revenge. As part of this con, two of the gang – Han Solo and Sana Starros – had to have a marriage ceremony.

So it wasn’t exactly a marriage of love, and it wasn’t even completely legitimate. But that didn’t stop it being incredibly awkward when “Sana Solo” later crossed paths with Han and Princess Leia.

(7) Paranormal Action Squad pilot.  Think Ghost Busters meets Scoobie Doo with a bit of Futurama.

(8) Bizarre movies coming out in 2018.

(9) Movies that will blow everyone away in 2019.

(10) Jason Isaacs and Shazad Latif talk about Discovery at Den of Geek: “Jason Isaacs & Shazad Latif interview: Star Trek Discovery”

What was your relationship to Star Trek before you were cast?

Shazad Latif: My granddad was obsessed with it, my uncle had every episode on VHS. I grew up with TNG, which was on after Fresh Prince Of Bel Air.

Jason Isaacs: Yeah I’m so much older than you. I watched the original series when I was a kid, crammed on the couch with my brothers and parents. We always argued about which of the existing three channels we should watch, but we never argued when Star Trek was on, so I watched TOS on repeat many many times and I’ve watched nothing since then. None of the other series.

(11) It’s not a prop, it’s not a trinket. “Star Trek fans: Live your best life with this Bluetooth communicator”

However, there is one piece of merchandise that hovers above the rest — possibly because it literally looks like it fell straight out of the show’s set. The Star Trek Bluetooth communicator is the thing that fans never knew they needed.

The Bluetooth communicator seriously looks like an exact replica of the one from the original series. The attention to detail can be attributed to the fact that it was designed using a literal 3D scan of one of the last remaining communicator props. To boost the authenticity even more, it features 20 voice clips and conversation fragments from the show. Who else can say they can have a conversation with Spock when they’re bored?