Author: Dave Nemetz

July 23, 2016 3:35pm PT by Dave Nemetz

Former stars compared Gene Roddenberry’s vision to our current political unrest.

The world of Star Trek may be centuries in the future, but the people behind it are concerned about the here and now.

Trekkies of all ages and species (Starfleet uniforms and Vulcan ears were everywhere you looked) piled into Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday to celebrate 50 years of the beloved sci-fi franchise — and the panel quickly turned political, as Trek stars compared creator Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic vision of the future to the unrest and negativity we’re living through today.

Moderator Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Pushing Daisies), who’s the showrunner of the new Star Trek TV series debuting on CBS All Access in January, set the tone by saying the franchise could serve as an antidote to the current political upheaval: “Think about what’s happening in America, and think about the promise of Star Trek, and what we can all do to get there.”

The Comic-Con panel featured a constellation of Trek all-stars, led by William Shatner (Captain Kirk in the original Trek series), Brent Spiner and Michael Dorn (Data and Worf from Star Trek: The Next Generation), Jeri Ryan (Seven of Nine from Voyager) and Scott Bakula (Captain Archer on Star Trek: Enterprise). And each of them took turns, at Fuller’s urging, to make a statement about what Star Trek can teach us about how we can coexist and explore the stars together.

“Star Trek, in general, has been about individual rights, about respecting everyone, no matter who and what they are,” Spiner says. “We’re living in a world right now where that respect is being challenged. It’s disturbing. I think a lot of our politicians and a lot of our fellow citizens could take a page from Star Trek, and have more respect for humanity.”

Dorn played a Klingon, a war-like species who were the villains on the original Star Trek series, and then became allies in later incarnations. And Dorn thinks there’s a lesson there from Roddenberry to the rest of us: “He wanted to show that we had moved on, that the characters had evolved…. There were a lot of guys who didn’t like Klingons, still. But they learned a lot about each other.”

Bakula sees Star Trek as a beacon of hope, even at our lowest points: “I continue to be hopeful that, even when it gets dark, we as a species will figure things out.” And Shatner revealed deep concerns he has about the environment, saying he asked an ecologist: “Is it too late? Has the tipping point been reached?” But the ecologist told him about a Canadian river that had a badly depleted salmon population, but then bounced back the following year. “There are things and mysteries in nature that will surprise us,” Shatner concluded.

Fuller even ended the panel by asking all the fans in attendance to take each other’s hands and “make a promise to leave this room with love, to leave this room with hope, to leave this room and take responsibility to craft a path to Gene Roddenberry’s vision.”

The overall theme of love and inclusion even extended to the most passionate rivalry of all: Star Trek vs. Star Wars. When a fan in a Star Wars T-shirt came up to ask a question, the Trek panelists didn’t push him away, but instead welcomed him with open arms. As Ryan put it, “We can like both!”

The panel concluded with the reveal of the title and first look at the ship on Fuller’s forthcoming CBS All Access Star Trek series. Click here for more info on that.

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July 23, 2016 12:52pm PT by Dave Nemetz

 Courtesy of Jeff Neumann/NBC

Luke MItchell and Michelle Hurd will join previously announced recurring player Archie Panjabi for the NBC sophomore drama.

The next puzzle for Blindspot’s Jane Doe to solve? How to get out of the mess she found herself in at the end of season one.

The freshman season of NBC’s hit procedural ended with the tattoo-covered Jane being placed under arrest by a furious Weller, who thinks she’s been lying to him for claiming she was his childhood friend Taylor Shaw. (Who’s definitely dead, by the way.) Meanwhile, Mayfair is dead, too, putting Weller in charge. And don’t forget: There’s still a nameless anti-government conspiracy lurking out there, led by the mysterious Shepherd. Who is Jane, really? And what the heck is going on here?

Fortunately, a few new cast additions should help sort things out: Luke Mitchell (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and Michelle Hurd (Daredevil) will join the season two cast as series regulars and members of that shadowy conspiracy. (Mitchell plays Roman, but Hurd’s character is unnamed; maybe she’s Shepherd?) And the Blindspot cast and showrunner Martin Gero graciously stopped by San Diego Comic-Con on Saturday to drop a few breadcrumbs for us to follow.

A sizzle reel screened for fans (watch, below) gave us a nice, long look at season two, including: Jane being brutally tortured and then interrogated by The Good Wife’s Archie Panjabi, who’s also joining the cast as a no-nonsense NSA operative; plenty of Jane kicking butt, including a tough fight with Weller (!); and Jane tearily telling Weller, “When we bring them down, I want out.” (Sorry, Jane; not if fans want a season three.)

Gero previewed the new cast additions, saying that Panjabi’s character “helps the team heal some of the wounds from last season.” And he did lay the groundwork for where the NBC drama picks up in season two: “It’s three months later. Everyone’s had a rough go.” He confirmed that Jane has been held in a CIA black site for those three months, and “they’ve been less than delicate with her.”

Gero also promises lots of plot resolution in the season premiere, airing Sept. 14: “The first episode back, you find out what Jane’s real name is, what her background is … it’s a very satisfying episode for our fans.” Plus, he vows, we will meet the conspiracy leader Shepherd at some point this season.

But don’t worry: There are still plenty of mysteries left to unravel. Like, what really happened to Mayfair, according to co-star Ashley Johnson (Patterson): “We don’t 100 percent know what happened with Mayfair. We’ll discover that as time goes on.” Speaking of Patterson: We still don’t know her first name! Gero is still tight-lipped on that front: “It’s a mystery show. I think there are things that should be mysterious about it at all times. She’s like our Kramer, I guess.”

Sullivan Stapleton (Weller) concedes that things are looking bleak for his character right now. “We’re picking up in a very happy place,” he jokes, before adding, “It’s quite a heavy way to start the second season. But it’s great to play as an actor.” And Jaimie Alexander (Jane) says Jane is still coping with the guilt of misleading Weller and inadvertently betraying the team: “That kind of guilt doesn’t go away easy.”

One great way to work out your guilty feelings: beating the crap out of the person you’re feeling guilty about, apparently. That scene of Jane and Weller duking it out was a big hit with the Comic-Con crowd, and Alexander was happy to spoil the outcome. “I won,” she proudly declared, while sitting right next to Stapleton. He could only shrug: “That wasn’t even on the show. That was in between takes.”

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Blindspot

July 22, 2016 8:15pm PT by Dave Nemetz

 Matthias Clamer/AMC

Seth Rogen and Kevin Smith dropped by to help bring the AMC comic-book drama to life.

Preacher has been a real godsend for AMC: With hyperkinetic fight scenes and a tongue-in-cheek irreverence, the comic-book adaptation about a Texas holy man with kick-ass supernatural powers has won a loyal following in its freshman season. (In fact, the network has already renewed it for season two.) And those loyal fans made the pilgrimage to the cavernous Hall H at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday night to get a sneak peek at Sunday’s all-new episode.

Well, more of an “advance listen” than a “sneak peek”: The main Preacher cast — Dominic Cooper (Jesse Custer), Ruth Negga (Tulip), Joseph Gilgun (Cassidy), Ian Colletti (Arseface) and Graham McTavish (The Cowboy) — began the panel by performing a live stage reading of this week’s episode, aided by special guests like Seth Rogen (an executive producer on the show), Kevin Smith, Jason Mantzoukas and The Flash’s Danielle Panabaker.

Without spoiling too much, expect a blood-soaked flashback to the 19th century, a daring escape by Jesse, an attempted trip to hell, some unfortunate pet carnage (Cassidy, you bloodsucking scamp), a grisly end for one main character (that one had the crowd gasping), and a clever nod to Breaking Bad. The reading eventually turned into a screening, with the episode’s ultraviolent final act being shown to the crowd on video.

After the reading, the Preacher cast and producers (including comic book author Garth Ennis) took a few questions from moderator Kevin Smith and the enthusiastic crowd. The show does take a few liberties with the source material; Smith calls it a “remix,” rather than a straight issue-by-issue adaptation. (AMC’s The Walking Dead takes a similar approach to its comic book source material.) But executive producer Evan Goldberg says in developing the TV series with Ennis, he discovered “there were a lot of nice ways to enhance it, as long as we stayed true to its core values.” And Ennis gave his blessing: “I realized early on that they were going to have to mess with it, and I was okay with it.”

Cooper confesses he was uneasy about taking on a character as beloved as Jesse Custer: “I was scared, because I understand the fan base, and what [the comics] meant to the people who grew up with them.” But despite those fears, he was “desperate to play the role.” And he’s learning more about Jesse Custer as the season progresses: “He’s much more dislikable than I thought.”

Rogen’s favorite Preacher character is the endearing Eugene, aka Aresface — who, after shooting himself in the mouth with a shotgun and surviving, is left with … well, an arseface. In fact, Rogen lobbied director Sam Mendes back in 2008 to play Arseface when Mendes was trying to adapt Preacher into a film. But Colletti isn’t a huge fan of the two and a half hours of makeup required to play Arseface: “It covers my whole face and nose, so if you sneeze, it’s pretty disgusting.”

If Preacher has a true fan favorite, though, it has to be Ruth Negga as the tiny but ferocious Tulip. Negga remembers jumping at the chance to play her: “There was no hesitation. I kind of lobbied for the part. I find her so thrilling. It’s joyous to play her, really. I very much enjoy seeing a woman who can be so dark and nuanced, but also quite funny. There’s not many people like her on TV.”

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