OS Cover Image

OS Cover Image

Sunday 5 April 2015

The Flash Season One Episodes 20-21 Titles Announced

Image Source: Screencrush
Something primate this way comes (well, four weeks from now, at least)...
The CW have today confirmed the official title for the long-awaited twenty-first episode of their superhero drama The Flash's opening season at their dedicated WonderCon 2015 panel.

Following hot on the heels of "Who Is Harrison Wells?" (Episode 19) and "The Trap" (Episode 20) will apparently be "Grodd Lives", a 45-minute outing that - unless its title doth deceive its onlookers - should introduce one of protagonist Barry Allen's best-known foes, Gorilla Grodd, into the fray just before the Rogues make their fourth appearance in Episode 22 ("Rogue Air") and Oliver Queen returns to Central City in order to assist in dispatching the threat of Harrison Wells, aka the Reverse-Flash.

Quite frankly, it's about time too, since the aforementioned mind-warping primate's debut has been teased ever since Season One's opening quartet of episodes, hence why the vast majority of long-running series loyalists appear to be chomping at the bit for the character to appear at this point in time. Once an official plot synopsis for "Grodd Lives" appears in our inbox, rest assured that it'll appear here at On-Screen in its entirety faster than a speeding bullet, but until then, take a look at the following tweet from @FlashTVNews for all of the necessary proof regarding what's to come for DC's iconic Scarlet Speedster when his adventures resume in just over a week's time:
After its fortnight-spanning hiatus, The Flash will return in the United States with "All Star Team Up" on April 14th via The CW, whilst here in the UK, Season One continues with "Tricksters" this Tuesday, April 7th on Sky1.

First Gotham Season Two Plot Details Announced

Image Source: Channel 5
For Jim Gordon, the quest to liberate the Gotham City Police Department from its darker strands is just beginning!
IGN have today relayed a handful of insightful narrative-centric details which were conveyed to the WonderCon 2015 audience regarding the second season of Fox's detective drama Gotham.

Based increasingly loosely on DC's Batman comic-book mythology, the series depicts the struggle of one Detective James Gordon to unmask the man behind the murders of Thomas and Martha Wayne before breaking the corruption at the heart of his police force by quelling a brewing crime war between two crime bosses - Carmine Falcone and Don Maroni - whose vengeful vendettas could otherwise tear Gotham apart before its soon-to-be infamous Dark Knight even has the chance to emerge.

Despite some optimistic members of the series' fan-base assuming in its early days that the aforementioned Caped Crusader known only as Batman would step in to assist Gordon in his efforts by Season One's denouement, thus bringing the programme some admittedly much-needed closure sooner rather than later, Fox commissioned a full second run earlier this year and in doing so heavily suggested that they're hoping for the GCPD to remain on our screens for some time yet. Regardless of our scepticism surrounding whether the show's producers can continue to create inspired story-lines for the rest of the run (let alone for 22 further episodes later this year), thanks to IGN, we've now received a relatively succinct overview of which members of the World's Greatest Detective's rogues gallery fans should expect to see plague Gordon and Bullock in the coming months:
  • HUGO STRANGE - Originally introduced to the world in a 1940 issue of Detective Comics, this dangerously analytical professor of science and psychology will most likely be best known to On-Screen readers for his substantial presence in Batman: Arkham City's storyline, not to mention his acquisition of the secret which could have disgraced the Dark Knight had City played out differently: his true identity of Bruce Wayne. However Gordon and Strange's initial confrontation develops, one thing's for sure - the ramifications for the former party could be endless at best...
  • TOMMY ELLIOT - The identity-shifting supervillain later known to the residents of Gotham City as Hush once went by the name Tommy Elliot, but of more significance was his sustained (albeit tense) friendship with Bruce Wayne in his early years. Expect the introduction of one of Batman's most persistent adversaries to have a similarly transformative impact on the last remaining Wayne's superheroic career to Strange's début in the lives of the GCPD team.
  • CLAYFACE & THE MAD HATTER - Both of these classic antagonists were inspired by their respective connections to the realms of theatricality and fantasy to such an extent that they came close to insanity as a result, yet as ever, those viewers predicting that such a metamorphosis will occur instantaneously in Season Two might be in for a shock, since odds are that the production team will play the long game - to say the very least - in this respect.
  • MR. FREEZE - One can only hope that Arnold Schwarzenegger will reprise his infamous Batman & Robin role as a tragic scientist whose campaign to cure his mortally-diseased wife takes a turn for the explosive next year, but failing that, we'd wager that whoever takes on the persona of Victor Fries will have the rather rare honour of serving as the central antagonist - or at least one of them - of Gotham's sophomore run.
  • Last but by no means least, on top of these character reveals, the execs present at the programme's WonderCon panel confirmed that Bruce would begin to show signs of the brash celebrity-esque façade he takes on in his day-to-day life so as to ensure that his cohorts never suspect him to be the man who adopts the mantle of everyone's favourite caped defender of justice come sundown. Stay tuned to On-Screen for more details on the show's increasingly dense character ensemble, not to mention the definitive airdate of Season Two's opening instalment...
Gotham's freshman run continues on April 13th with Episode 19 ("Beasts of Prey") on Fox, after which Season Two will presumably première on the same Bat-channel (at the same Bat-time, of course) this Autumn.

Dragons: Race to the Edge First Season Commissioned

Embedded image permalink
Images Source: Twitter (@DWAnimation)
Anyone wondering when we asked for a How to Train Your Dragon 2 prequel can feel free to join the club.
As if it wasn't enough for them to unveil an entirely new small-screen project in the form of Dinotrux, DreamWorks Animation also today unveiled a second animated show based on one of their most beloved film franchises to date at this year's WonderCon event.

Titled Dragons: Race to the Edge, the series in question's narrative kicks off shortly before the events of last year's high-flying fantastical blockbuster How to Train Your Dragon 2, features "new dragons like the Deathsong", plus reintroduces series veterans and newcomers alike to "[their favourite] vikings and dragons" (in the words of the studio's official Twitter account, anyway). Beyond that, our knowledge of what lies ahead for Hiccup, Toothless and the gang is mostly limited, although DreamWorks are all but guaranteed to release further plot details in the run-up to the programme's launch.

Much as we'd love to claim otherwise, whilst the original How to Train Your Dragon more than earned itself a 5* score from us back in 2010, the direct sequel which landed in cinemas four years later didn't fare so finely, instead finding itself lost amidst the glut of (mostly) accomplished prequels, sequels and remakes that hit the box office over the course of 2014's Summer of Film blockbuster season. If the recent Netflix-only Madagascar companion piece All Hail King Julian was representative of the quality of the studio's upcoming TV productions, though, with any luck the tide will once again turn in the Dragons saga's favour years ahead of its full-scale return to the realms of cinema in 2018.

Short of an invasion of winged beasts occurring in the real world, Dragons: Race to the Edge should land on Netflix in June 2015. In the meantime, take a glance below to uncover the first screenshots from its opening episode, then stay tuned to On-Screen for all of the latest information regarding its broadcast window, its new characters and of course its wider connections to the future of its long-running cinematic source material.
Embedded image permalink
Embedded image permalink

Dinotrux First Season Commissioned

Embedded image permalink
Image Source: Twitter (@DWAnimation)
The studio behind Shrek has a project of prehistoric proportions in store for the (Jurassic) world at large!
DreamWorks Animation have today announced the development of a new animated TV series as part of their official WonderCon 2015 panel.

Currently intended to première on Netflix sometime in the not too distant future, the show - tentatively titled Dinotrux - will (at least if its present title is any indication) presumably combine creatures from before the dawn of time with considerably more modern metallic auto-mobiles in an effort to blend genres in a similar vein to the studio's previous big-screen projects such as Monsters vs. Aliens and Kung Fu Panda.

All the same, those fans of DreamWorks' past work may well need to reconsider their loyalties if they're hoping for textual callbacks galore, since the studio appeared adamant that this was to be an "original project" as opposed to a shared universe-esque entry along the lines of Agent Carter or the recently-rumoured Men in Black / 21 Jump Street crossover. In place of such diligent adherence to continuity, however, the production team will - according to those members in attendance at WonderCon - at least aim to include "action, adventure, comedy [and] drama", though in light of the frequency with which executive producers use such terms in relation to up-and-coming projects, the proof will inevitably have to be in the metaphorical pudding in this instance.

Dinotrux's opening run will awaken from its meteor-induced slumber just in time to début on Netflix later this year.