
Casting for Disney’s Lady and the Tramp live-action reboot begins. Silver and Black’s Gina Prince-Bythewood is directing another comic book adaptation. Timothy Zahn discusses the unlikely possibility of Mara Jade appearing in Episode IX. Plus what’s to come in the final episodes of The Originals. Spoilers now!

Lady and the Tramp
Ashley Jensen has joined the cast of Disney’s live-action Lady and the Tramp remake as a Scottish terrier named Jackie. [Deadline]
Detective Pikachu
THR reports Detective Pikachu has switched studios from Universal to Warner Bros. as part of a larger negotiation reverting Legendary Entertainment’s catalog of movies to its original owner.
Old Guard
Gina Prince-Bythewood is now in talks to direct a film adaptation of Greg Rucka’s comic book series about a platoon of immortal soldiers. [THR]
Joker
Geeks Worldwide report the film is looking to cast a man in his 60s for the role of a Rupert Thorne-esque figure named Mr. Warner.
MR. WARNER Supporting Male (60-70) [MR. WARNER] male, Caucasian, 60s, a deeply-tanned, hair dyed so black it was almost blue, highly successful, New York City businessman, rumored to be running for Mayor. He’s a public figure in the city and a symbol of wealth [STRONG SUPPORTING]
The Predator
Production Weekly reports The Predator is once again heading back to Vancouver for a second round of reshoots.
Star Wars: Episode IX
Appearing on a recent episode of the Talking Bay 94 podcast, creator Timothy Zahn stated he’s unaware whether Mara Jade will make an appearance in Episode IX, but isn’t opposed to the idea, wildly unlikely as it would be:
If there was a generic, or organic, spot for her to fit into a story...I promise people, I will pitch it to the Lucasfilm story group, and then, it’s their decision whether to allow it or not.
Hostile
We also have a teaser for a new post-apocalyptic survival horror thriller, in which a woman with a broken leg must defend herself against a chittering mutant.
Iron Fist
The show’s official Twitter is slowly revealing the episode titles of season two in dramatic, marquee posts.
Supergirl
Episodes two, three and four of the new season are titled “Fallout,” “Man of Steel,” and “Ahimsa,” respectively. [Spoiler TV]
Riverdale
Meanwhile, episode three of Riverdale’s third season is titled “They Live By Night.” [Spoiler TV]
Gotham
Barbara debuts her wicked new pixie cut in a behind-the-scenes photo.
Legacies
The CW has released a trailer for their new Vampire Diaries/The Originals spinoff starring Hope Mikaelson.
The Originals
Finally, the CW has also released a trailer for the series finale of The Originals, “When the Saints Go Marching In.”
Banner art by Jim Cooke.
DISCUSSION
I don’t think these have been posted on here before, so here’s a crop of new articles covering the James Gunn-Cernovich/Neo Nazi shenanigans.
Dave Bautista continues to stand by his man.
http://comicbook.com/marvel/2018/07/26/dave-bautista-continues-blast-disney-james-gunn-firing/
WaPo has a decent article that includes something that I managed to forget to cover, Ted Cruz’s insane call to have Gunn prosecuted. What for, I don’t know, because he did nothing illegal. Call me old fashioned, but I hope Ted Cruz trips into a wood chipper.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/disneys-axing-director-james-gunn-for-his-atrocious-tweets-was-understandable-but-it-was-wrong/2018/07/24/b46cf61a-8f4a-11e8-8322-b5482bf5e0f5_story.html?utm_term=.967ca63c4682
Deadline has an article up where Mike Fleming decided to rethink his original stance a bit, though I don’t agree with 100% of what he covers. Still, worth a read.
https://deadline.com/2018/07/scarlett-johansson-james-gunn-rub-and-tug-transgender-shaming-disney-banishment-guardians-of-the-galaxy-1202433349/
And finally The Wrap covers the man of the hour himself, Nazi and rapist Mike Cernovich.
https://www.thewrap.com/mike-cernovich-who-got-james-gunn-fired-over-rape-tweets-has-history-of-rape-tweets/
So, James. I’m just going to say it here. What the hell man? The silence from io9 on this topic and everything surrounding it has been deafening. Quite simply, there are a host of topics that absolutely should be covered on this very site right now, but we’ve seen nothing. I love the writers here and respect the hell out of most of them, but the fact that you guys seem to have absolutely nothing to say on the matter is insane. I’m not even asking you to “nut up” or whatever and rush to Gunn’s defense. The fact that you haven’t even covered the issue in a purely neutral manner does not make any sense to me. I’ve seen a few theories as to why there hasn’t been anything said, and I have a few myself, but I genuinely want to simply know why.